Rating: 
Summary: Squids will be confusing and boring to most chidren
Review: Spent more time explaining the morals than reading the stories. We never got to the end of the book. My children will not let me read the book to them. A disappointment from such a fine author as Jon Scieszka.
Rating: 
Summary: Squid & Slug - just misunderstood
Review: Squid is a genius. Squid won't bother doing boring things like watching tv, playing frisbee, or going shopping. Slug is pretty smart too. Slug realizes she is better than everyone and everything else, so she only pays attention to the important things; herself. Why Squid is depicted as a party-pooper, and Slug cruelly bumped off I cannot understand. I can only suspect Jon Scieszka is jealous of the real-life versions of Squid and Slug.
So, basically; beside his obvious prejudice toward these awesome characters, this is an enjoyable book you can read all the time, and stuff. You can't take it places, though, 'cause it's big and you'd look weird carrying a kid's book, unless you are a kid. Oh, and I don't like the paper book cover. It's always sliding off one edge, or the other, and it's starting to rip. I guess that doesn't have anything to do with the contents of the book and I could just take the book cover off, but complaining is good for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Fresh, Fun and Fabulous
Review: Squids Will Be Squids is a wacky collection of "new" fables that, as the introduction states: "Aesop might have told if he were alive today..." Jon Scieszka has outdown himself with these wonderful stories. Each is short, silly and to the point, written in kid-speak, and ends with a moral kids will easily understand. The colorful illustrations by Lane Smith add just the right touch to compliment each fable. A terrific book to share and enjoy with the whole family, over and over again.
Rating:
Summary: Fresh, Fun and Fabulous
Review: Squids Will Be Squids is a wacky collection of "new" fables that, as the introduction states: "Aesop might have told if he were alive today..." Jon Scieszka has outdown himself with these wonderful stories. Each is short, silly and to the point, written in kid-speak, and ends with a moral kids will easily understand. The colorful illustrations by Lane Smith add just the right touch to compliment each fable. A terrific book to share and enjoy with the whole family, over and over again.
Rating:
Summary: An adult addicted to Scieszka
Review: This book is very amuzing and entertaining for kids and adults alike. Perhaps we each get a different type of humour out of it, but the irony in both the writing and the visuals is cleverly created. Scieszka is talented at breaking all the rules of storytelling and this book is a great example of that.
Rating:
Summary: Can't say something nice about someone? Make them a squid
Review: Those of us who remember Jon Sciezka and Lane Smith as the author and illustrator of "The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!" will know exactly what they are getting into when they pick up "Squids Will Be Squids: Fresh Morals, Beastly Fables." The thesis here is that even before Aesop a legion of storytellers have told stories about annoying, weird, pain-in-the-neck people, turned them into animals, added a moral, and thereby changed rude gossip and bad jokes into fables. The idea here is present a collection of fables that Aesop might be telling if he was alive today. The moral, according to Sciezka and Smith, is that "If you can't say something nice about someone, change the guy's name to Donkey or Squid."What young readers will find in these inventive fables are not lessons about necessity being the mother of invention or look before you leap, but more practical concerns for the modern world such as do not believe everything you see on TV, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and just because you have a lot of stuff do not think you are so special. Some of the fables you need to think about to get to the real point, such as the moral "Don't play with matches," which is really about something even worse than matches (i.e., people you are warned to stay away from). Throughout the book you will find a constant onslaught of wicked humor (the grasshopper's history assignment is priceless) and even if it over the heads of many young readers, they will understand the jokes down the road when they return to this book. After all, the morals of fables are supposed to be timeless, even if they were just made up for this 1998 book. Most of the stories are told about animals, from frogs and squids to elephants and slugs, but there are also stories involving things like a tongue and a BeefSnakStik (complete with registered trademark). Smith's illustrations are creative and his wife, Molly Leach, provides the exotic design for the book, which will provide appropriate visual stimuli to go with all the morals. The end result is that "Squids Will Be Squids" tells contemporary fables in a contemporary way, and if you have a complaint about the use "squids" as the plural for "squid," then remember to read the fine print of this tongue-in-cheek volume (okay, in the fable about the hand, foot and tongue the tongue is obvious out of the cheek, but that is a different point entirely). Young readers will no doubt be inspired to come up with their own fables, and this book even includes solid advice on how to do that as well.
Rating:
Summary: Can't say something nice about someone? Make them a squid
Review: Those of us who remember Jon Sciezka and Lane Smith as the author and illustrator of "The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!" will know exactly what they are getting into when they pick up "Squids Will Be Squids: Fresh Morals, Beastly Fables." The thesis here is that even before Aesop a legion of storytellers have told stories about annoying, weird, pain-in-the-neck people, turned them into animals, added a moral, and thereby changed rude gossip and bad jokes into fables. The idea here is present a collection of fables that Aesop might be telling if he was alive today. The moral, according to Sciezka and Smith, is that "If you can't say something nice about someone, change the guy's name to Donkey or Squid." What young readers will find in these inventive fables are not lessons about necessity being the mother of invention or look before you leap, but more practical concerns for the modern world such as do not believe everything you see on TV, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and just because you have a lot of stuff do not think you are so special. Some of the fables you need to think about to get to the real point, such as the moral "Don't play with matches," which is really about something even worse than matches (i.e., people you are warned to stay away from). Throughout the book you will find a constant onslaught of wicked humor (the grasshopper's history assignment is priceless) and even if it over the heads of many young readers, they will understand the jokes down the road when they return to this book. After all, the morals of fables are supposed to be timeless, even if they were just made up for this 1998 book. Most of the stories are told about animals, from frogs and squids to elephants and slugs, but there are also stories involving things like a tongue and a BeefSnakStik (complete with registered trademark). Smith's illustrations are creative and his wife, Molly Leach, provides the exotic design for the book, which will provide appropriate visual stimuli to go with all the morals. The end result is that "Squids Will Be Squids" tells contemporary fables in a contemporary way, and if you have a complaint about the use "squids" as the plural for "squid," then remember to read the fine print of this tongue-in-cheek volume (okay, in the fable about the hand, foot and tongue the tongue is obvious out of the cheek, but that is a different point entirely). Young readers will no doubt be inspired to come up with their own fables, and this book even includes solid advice on how to do that as well.
Rating:
Summary: Wise-guys and Wise-gals will love this!
Review: To get an idea of Scieszka's humor, let me tell you about howhe once introduced himself to a group of kids. "Hieveryone," he said... "Now I know some of you have been having a little trouble with my name. It's not that hard, really. Let's all say it together... Ready? ... JOHN!" Well, the kids squealed in delight, recognizing that here was a guy in tune with their own inner "smart-alecs." This particular book, "Squids Will Be Squids," is perhaps the most lucid product of Scieszka's irreverent imagination. It is is basically a re-telling of familiar and not-so-familiar fables, but with unexpected, and very funny twists at the end. The humor is such that both kids and adults will snicker, and it is enhanced by Lane Smith's appropriately bizzare character illustrations. This is a book for any kid who is catching on (or becoming a pro) in the art of gentle sarcasm. There is a fable about why kids in the cafeteria don't want to eat lunch with Shark, Wasp, and Bacteria, and the punchline is classic. Another is a tale that warps around, and totally reinterprets, the otherwise sage advice, "Don't Play with Matches." I've read some of these fables out loud (in funny voices) to college students, who couldn't seem to get enough of them. (Made me wonder if they were deprived of being read to while youngsters). One later told me that she purchased a copy of "Squids will Be Squids" for her former high-school science teacher, and he has been thanking her ever since. Like Gary Larson's "Far Side" cartoons? Then you're just gonna' love this!
Rating:
Summary: Wise-guys and Wise-gals will love this!
Review: To get an idea of Scieszka's humor, let me tell you about howhe once introduced himself to a group of kids. "Hieveryone," he said... "Now I know some of you have been having a little trouble with my name. It's not that hard, really. Let's all say it together... Ready? ... JOHN!" Well, the kids squealed in delight, recognizing that here was a guy in tune with their own inner "smart-alecs." This particular book, "Squids Will Be Squids," is perhaps the most lucid product of Scieszka's irreverent imagination. It is is basically a re-telling of familiar and not-so-familiar fables, but with unexpected, and very funny twists at the end. The humor is such that both kids and adults will snicker, and it is enhanced by Lane Smith's appropriately bizzare character illustrations. This is a book for any kid who is catching on (or becoming a pro) in the art of gentle sarcasm. There is a fable about why kids in the cafeteria don't want to eat lunch with Shark, Wasp, and Bacteria, and the punchline is classic. Another is a tale that warps around, and totally reinterprets, the otherwise sage advice, "Don't Play with Matches." I've read some of these fables out loud (in funny voices) to college students, who couldn't seem to get enough of them. (Made me wonder if they were deprived of being read to while youngsters). One later told me that she purchased a copy of "Squids will Be Squids" for her former high-school science teacher, and he has been thanking her ever since. Like Gary Larson's "Far Side" cartoons? Then you're just gonna' love this!
Rating:
Summary: Crosses all age bounderies
Review: We have had this book for over a year and purchased it afterbeing lucky enough to hear a reading of it by the author before it wasreleased. I have six children ranging in age from 4 to 16 and each one of us loves this book for different reasons. I love it becuase it is one of a very few childrens' books which is really funny in a smart way. My four year old loves it for the stories and the great and intriguing illustrations, and my nine year old boy loves it for the nine year old boy appeal it obviously has. Everyone else loves it for their own reasons but it is read over and over again and our four year old can ALWAYS capture a family member to read it to her which is not always the case with other books.
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