The New Red Bed

K-Gr 1-These series titles are designed to be shared by adults and youngsters. The children's pages have large print and only a few simple words or sentences, while those for adults are more difficult. Hansel and Gretel follows the traditional story, minus the stepmother. The pictures are rather stiff, stylized cartoons. Many superior renditions of the story are available; this one's only strength is to promote the concept of tandem reading. In New Red Bed, a boy experiences a series of manic dream adventures when he sleeps in his new bed for the first time. There is no coherent story-just rapid changes of scene, brightly illustrated with humorous cartoons. Subjects were apparently chosen with an ear toward phonics: -dog on a frog, -fish on a dish, -green bats in hats/and big fat blue cats. Budgets would be better spent on traditional easy-reader favorites.-Lisa Smith, Lindenhurst Memorial Library, NY Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.