Squids Will be/True Story 3 Little Pigs Scieszka lot

This is a lot of 4 funny children's books by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Caldecott award artist Lane Smith, off the wall humor for ages 5-8.  One noted below is a hardcover, the rest are softcovers.  All have a remainder mark on the bottom book edge, not super noticeable, light cover or jacket wear from handling, all with pages perfect.

Squids will be Squids, Fresh Morals, Beastly Fables.  "Every once in a while a book crosses our desks that makes us sit quietly delighted--except for a few squeaks of unmitigated joy--and this oversized, energized, stylized, highly prized book of fables is one of them. Jon Scieszka has a simple philosophy of the fable: "If you can't say something nice about someone, change the guy's name to Donkey or Squid." After all, the alleged Aesop did it. Squids Will Be Squids offers lessons such as "Everyone knows frogs can't skateboard, but it's kind of sad that they believe everything they see on TV." Sure, it's goofy, but it's also saying to kids, "Don't believe everything you see on TV." In "Duckbilled Platypus vs. Beefsnakstick," the bragging platypus and his beefy buddy teach us "Just because you have a lot of stuff, don't think you're so special." Of course, there is nothing heavy-handed here--morals such as "He who smelt it, dealt it" and "Elephants never forget, except sometimes" satirically prance amid the more heartfelt snippets of sagacity."  $7.99 nice Puffin edition, oversized pages, ages 6-9 approx.

Baloney (Henry P),  bestseller, winner of several awards

Cowboy Octopus, hardcover with dustjacket

The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! by A Wolf.  In this gaily newfangled version of a classic tale, Scieszka and Smith ( Flying Jake ) argue in favor of the villain, transforming the story of the three little pigs into a playfully suspicious, rather arch account of innocence beleaguered. Quoth the wolf: "I don't know how this whole Big Bad Wolf thing got started, but it's all wrong." According to his first-person testimony, the wolf went visiting the pigs in search of a neighborly cup of sugar; he implies that had the first two happened to build more durable homes and the third kept a civil tongue in his head, the wolf's helpless sneezes wouldn't have toppled them. As for his casual consumption of the pigs, the wolf defends it breezily ("It seemed like a shame to leave a perfectly good ham dinner lying there in the straw") and claims cops and reporters "framed" him. Smith's highly imaginative watercolors eschew realism, further updating the tale, though some may find their urbane stylization and intentionally static quality mystifyingly adult. Designed with uncommon flair, this alternative fable is both fetching and glib. Ages 3-8. Puffin edition, $6.99 cover price.

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