Twenty-Four Robbers

by Audrey Wood

Twenty-four robbers display their cooking talents in this retelling of the traditional skipping rhyme. In Audrey Wood's joyful celebration of this traditional skipping rhyme, twenty-four robbers return to the same house again and again. What do they need and what is it for? Kindness and generosity show the robbers that stealing is not the only way, and teaches them the value of sharing. Count twenty-four robbers on each spread, and join in the shouting!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published May 31, 1981

About the author

Audrey Wood studied art and drama at the Arkansas Art Center in Little Rock, Arkansas. She has owned an operated a book and import store, taught chldren's drama and art, and traveled throughout Mexico and Guatemala studying Indian folk art. She now lives in Hawaii with her talented family (husband Don and son Bruce, who have both collaborated with Audrey by illustrating some of her books).

Reviews

[Bear Wiseman · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all time favorite children’s books! It holds up even in this age. Inoffensive, cute, and the robbers turn out to be okay in the end!

[Emily Porter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a cute story! I love the rhyming words and the way they spell out each ingredient they're "stealing". It's very easy to read out loud because of the chant-like writing, which also makes it good for kids to interact with. The ending is super cute and I like how it teaches sharing.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations in this book are a little messy, but they're bright and colorful, and the pattern of the story is not to be missed.

So, of course, if you're a teacher you can move on from this book by teaching the jump rope rhyme to the kids. Always good to get them moving, makes things stick in the mind, doesn't it? (Well, it's just fun.)

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really fun story and illustrations. Love the rhyme.

[Megan Rowland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could use this book for spelling because they will out words such as hot and corn. The illustrations are neat, too.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up jump roping to this chant, so it was great fun to hear an echoing of childhood. My young son exclaimed, "It's just like a cheer!" at the conclusion.