Sneaky Weasel

by Hannah Shaw

He tries to feed you to a cat, tapes you upside down to a chalkboard, and causes you to be very, very itchy. And when you don’t show up at the extrafancy party he’s throwing for himself, he can’t understand Why! Not only is Weasel totally sneaky—he just doesn’t get what a rat he is!

In this hilarious picture-book debut, a sneaky weasel finds that his tricks have left him with plenty of power, lots of fancy stuff, and absolutely no friends. Can this very bad weasel learn how to be good? (But, you know, not sickeningly good.) And aren’t we all at least a little bit Weasel-y? C’mon, you know you are. Just a little bit?


From the Hardcover edition.

Genres: Picture Books, Friendship, Childrens, Animals, Storytime, Humor

32 pages, Library Binding

First published April 1, 2008

About the author

Hannah Shaw was born into a large family of sprout munching vegetarians.

As is the oldest child, she spent her formative years trying to be good at everything; from roller-skating to gymnastics. Hannah soon realised there wasn’t much chance of her becoming a gold medal winning gymnast, so she resigned herself to drawing pictures and writing stories!

By some mean feat Hannah found herself at the University of Brighton doing a degree in illustration. Soon an overwhelming obsession to make books took over her life. Inspired by her love of furry animals, Hannah wrote and illustrated her first picture book Evil Weasel, published by Jonathan Cape (Random House) in 2008. Her next book Erroll, about a boy who finds a squirrel in his packet of nuts, is out in 2009.

Hannah currently lives in a little cottage in the Cotswolds, with her husband Ben the blacksmith and her rescue dog Ren. Her over-active imagination fuels new ideas but unfortunately keeps her awake at night!

Reviews

[Naomi Raymond · Rating 5 out of 5]

The weasel was mean at first, but then he was nice!

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfectly average book about what you can expect when your behavior is weasely vs. what you can expect when you behave in a civil way. Fine book for preschool and kindergarten kids, as it reinforces those lessons about behavior that adults are constantly harping about.

My nephew liked this book because he was able to pinpoint why no guests showed up to Weasel' s party, and he was able to predict what Weasel was going to have to do in order to get some friends. He also liked that in the end Weasel was good most of the time, but that he did occasionally let his inner Weasel out just a tiny bit. No one can be perfect all the time, after all!

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sneaky Weasel has wealth beyond measure, but no friends. When his big party turns out to be a flop, he learns an important lesson about how to treat others and stop being a bully. Youngsters will enjoy the goofy characters, silly situations, and detailed, busy illustrations.

Humane families note: One of the characters is a "lab rat" who works as a scientist. Although the depiction is silly, humane-minded parents may look askance at the idea of animals used in laboratories being used as humor.

[Marietje · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a goody two shoes kind of tale in which a mean weasel bully sees the light overnight and apologizes to his victims. Books about bullying are very necessary for all ages, but don't make children believe that a bully becomes a good guy all at once.
I was also disturbed by the kind of slapstick pictures which makes the reader feel that the issue of bullying is considered funny.

[Stacie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Morality tale where the stereotypical "sneaky" weasel takes advantage of others, makes amends and apologizes making the world right. I kinda feel like I read this one with my son Jack, too, but perhaps if you've read one weasel's story you have read them all. Challenging all children's books authors - please write a book where the weasel is the good guy!

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sneaky Weasel is very sneaky. He likes to play mean tricks, tell people how much money he has and they don't and to throw parties to show people how important he is. One day he throws just such a party and no one comes. Weasel is very angry and decides to visit each guest he invited to find out why they didn't show up. Rabbit reminds him how mean Weasel was to him in school. Shrew tells him that his joke about him was not funny. Hedgehog can't stop itching because of the fleas Weasel slipped into his house. Weasel finally begins to understand why no one likes him very much. He realizes he needs to work on being good. He throws a party to celebrate trying to be good and he offers cake and ice cream to his guests. This party is much better and everyone comes and has a great time!

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book features an unlikely friend - a weasel. Sneaky Weasel must learn the hard way that being sneaky is not a good way to keep his friends. He changes his mischievous ways before it is too late, and in doing so he learns a valuable lesson in friendship. The details alone in these illustrations are worth looking at; they add their own whole dimension to this tale. I think readers that enjoy The True Story of the Three Little Pigs would also like this book.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book! Everything was funny, esp the endpages, although the story was pretty predictable. Sneaky Weasel has made a lot of money and has a huge house because he is mean and sneaky. One day he has a party and invites everyone in town, but no one shows up because of how he acts. So he decides to be good and make it up to everyone, then has another party and everyone shows up. But can he stay good?

[Gwen the Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Weasel was a mean, sneaky, nasty, bully. All his sneakiness made Weasel very rich and he had a castle and a fancy car. When Weasel went to throw a big, important party to show off all his stuff, nobody came! How can a super sneaky weasel make friends?

This is a very humorous book where the illustrations tell a large part of the story and have little inside jokes.

[Amy Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sneaky Weasel is mean and plays practical jokes on his friends so when he has a party, no one shows up. When Sneaky tries to find out why, he realizes what a bully he has been and tries to make things up with his friends. Different words are highlighted with different types of text styles and there are letters and maps and signs throughout the book for kids to read.

[Gail Barge]

This is a cute book that has very detailed illustrations that are often an important part of the text and the story. This would be a good book to use when talking about text format. I would also use this book if my class was having difficulty treating each other with respect. This book explains why it is important to be kind to one another, using humorous animal characters.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

No one wants to come to Sneaky Weasel's party because he's been, well, sneaky. And Weasely. So he decides to make amends, and say sorry, and all turns out well. Nice message, well-written story, not too sugary at the end - but the slopey, wavy font got on my nerves.

[Karen Arendt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was torn between it was ok and I liked it. This story is good for character ed, how to be a friend. Weasel is not nice and when he has a party, no one comes. Sort of didactic, but children will like the pictures....

[Kaethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

2009 Jul 04

The story is subtle like a flamethrower. The book design feels like a Lauren Child book, but where difficulty in reading has replaced pertinent and whimsical typography. Ugh. But the seven-year-old liked it. Quite a bit.

[Katey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book for those looking for friendship. Often time we can think ourselves cool and important. It is this arrogant attitude that pushes people away. We must be kind to one another and know when to say sorry.

[Christine Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sneaky weasel finds that his tricks have left him with plenty of power, lots of fancy stuff, and absolutely no friends. Can this very bad weasel learn how to be good?
www.hcpl.net

[Tina B · Rating 2 out of 5]

"apologize, bully, mean, weasels"

[Angie crosby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. It was a simple book about bullying.

[Kari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sky seemed to 'get' the lesson that you shouldn't be mean to your friends...A particularly relevant lesson lately.

[Romelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quirky, silly fun. Busy illustrations. The character reminds me of Dora the Explorer's nemises- Swiper, the fox.

[Elizabeth Meadows · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the drawings in this picture book about a bully who learned how to be a friend...most of the time.

[Leslie Inglis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clever, creative story to teach why kiddos being a sneaky bully isn't any way to gain friendships. This story has great humor to illustrate its moral. :)

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty predictable, but good overall. The age old story of being kind to others.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great lesson on being kind.