Schnitzel: A Cautionary Tale for Lazy Louts

by Stephanie Shaw, Kevin Barry (Illustrations)

Apprenticed to a famous wizard, young Schnitzel is not known for his hard work. In fact, it's just the opposite. He's lazy and lacks motivation. So late one night, when a door-to-door salesman selling vacuum cleaners offers to help, Schnitzel sees an answer to his housecleaning woes. Little does he know, however, that this is no ordinary salesman and the vacuum is no ordinary dust-buster. In this retelling of the classic tale The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Schnitzel is about to find out why it's never a good idea to invite a cape-wearing, fang-toothed stranger in after dark. Fortunately for him, there's magical help ready to lend a hand.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Vampires, Magic, Fairy Tales, Humor

32 pages, ebook

Published August 1, 2016

About the author

After a successful career teaching children with severe behavioral challenges, school counseling and school administration, Stephanie Shaw now loves creating stories that range from quiet to quirky, poetry to prose. When she isn’t assisting door-to-door vacuum cleaner vampire salesmen, taking cows on shopping trips for muumuus, or helping garden slugs with their calligraphy, she can be found at home in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

Reviews

[La Coccinelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a strange book! Schnitzel is a retelling of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice"... with vampires. Yeah, I don't really get that part; it seems really random. Basically, Schnitzel (the apprentice) is lazy and doesn't want to vacuum with the crotchety old appliance (that's the bug-like thing on the cover, apparently). So when a door-to-door vacuum salesman--who happens to be a vampire--shows up with the promise of a more efficient suck, Schnitzel takes him up on the offer... only to see the whole house disappear into the vacuum bag and the vampire make a claim on his neck. If you're familiar with the original story, you can guess how this one ends.

The story is told in rhyme, which does flow pretty well. The illustrations are quirky and fun. But I just don't see what a vampire has to do with anything. Okay, a vampire and a vacuum both suck, but... it still seems random.

Overall, this is kind of amusing. I don't think it'll ever be a favourite retelling of mine, but it's fun to see less well-known stories retold once in a while.

[Moonkiszt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Featured in grandma reads session today. . .

Definitely a cautionary tale about lazy choices and where that can land you, especially as it relates to vacuums and castles. Of which we have plenty, right?

A far stretch for me and my crew, but we got the message. Vacuuming and other acts of child labor happened afterward and before the next book was read.

3 stars. For the stretch.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Possibly 5 stars.
Ghostly white faces with intentionally placed color to highlight certain other important objects - or parts of objects pull the reader's eye around each page. Abundance of white and gray give the characters plenty of space to move around. Keep an eye on the cat!
I would pair this with 2003 Caldecott winning book, "The Spider and the Fly" retold by Mary Howitt and illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi. Perfect pair for compare and contrast activity.

[Roben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Schnitzel is a retelling of the classic Sorceror's Apprentice tale. But it also deals with laziness - what happens when one tries to get out of a job that is supposed to be done well. Bottom line - never trust a vampire selling vacuums door to door. The author includes a brief history of the tale at the end of the book which I found extremely interesting.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Based on the Sorcerer's apprentice this is a story told in rhyme. What type of salesman could be knocking at the door at midnight? See how our little apprentice gets into trouble. A very fun read. Nice author's notes as well.

[Cindy Kleback · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rhyming picture book that reminds readers how important it is to do your own work and not to cut corners, especially when too good to be true solutions are offered by a door to door salesman vampire.

[Lynne Vanderveen · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know the old saying about "if it seems to good to be true..."? Well, if you had someone offer to do all of your chores...for free...yeah, it could be one of those situations. This is a really cute story that will have preschoolers giggling.

[Fred Pollock · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know the old saying about "if it seems to good to be true..."? Well, if you had someone offer to do all of your chores...for free...yeah, it could be one of those situations. This is a really cute story that will have preschoolers giggling.

[Rhoda Benton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute and imaginative way to remind children, and adults, to do their own work!

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute take on "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", with gorgeous artwork.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny rhyming text, and funny story about wizards/ doing chores. Could be really cool for a school-age storytime.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is a variation of the Sorcerer's Apprentice.
A young lad works as a wizard's apprentice and has all the castle cleaning to do. He shirks his work and one midnight a spooky man arrives and offers to do the work for him. When the boy lets him in he soon wishes he had done the work himself.
Fun story in great rhyme and wonderful illustrations. In the back of the book are prompts for the reader to rewrite the story just as the author did.

[Villain E · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is interesting. The art is quirky, in a good way. The story combines a door-to-door vacuum salesman with a vampire, who the boy invites in because he wants help with the cleaning. The results are a bit Cat-in-the-hat-ish. This will appeal to adults as much as kids. Told in rhyme.

[Amirah Aris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the story and illustrations!

[Shay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Schnitzel is an apprentice to a wizard named Willibald. Schnitzels' only job is to clean, but he is rather lazy! One night Schnitzel read his chore list for the next day. It said to vacuum every inch of every room. Schnitzel was very upset, vacuuming was his least favorite job. That night the doorbell rang at midnight. Schnitzel opened the door to find a stranger with a vacuum in his hands. The stranger asked to come inside and claimed he would vacuum the house for free. Schnitzel thought his prayers had been answered and let the man in. The vacuum did exactly what it said it would .....clean. The vacuum sucked up everything, not just the dirt! It sucked up the curtains, the garbage, the tables, lamps everything! There was nothing left but the garden! Schnitzel was so upset and wished he had done the work himself. As soon as he realized he made a mistake he hears a poof! and everything was back to normal! but Mr. Willibald was standing there with a mop and a bucket. From then on Schnitzel did his work all by himself.
I gave this book five stars because not only was it entertaining, but it also had a theme that represented that there are no short cuts in life. Additionally, I enjoyed that the book was relatable. Most children have experienced chores in their lifetime and can share the frustration of not wanting to complete them.

[Krystal Hornecker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A spoof on the traditional tale of the Sorcerer's Apprentice (most commonly recognized from Disney's Fantasia!), Schnitzel is a hilarious reminder that you shouldn't take shortcuts in your chores. Utilizing simple verse, a vampire salesman, and greyscale pictures, this is a must-read for kindergarten through second grade. My favorite thing about this book is that the author includes a prompt for writing your own version of the story at the end, opening up endless possibilities for using it in the classroom even with older grades.

[Hope · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this retelling of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice"! It rhymed and had interesting illustrations I think children will enjoy, and I definitely think they will be able to empathize with the mc for not wanting to do their chores. A great cautionary tale about being lazy and not trusting vampires.

[Mayra Espinoza · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great retelling of the "Sorcerer Apprentice" with a ghoulish twist. Loved reading this book and noticing the perfectness of the illustrations. I also like the moral of the story which is to not be lazy and do what you must.

[Brittany]

Easy to read and it was right up his alley with the illustrations

[Theresa Grissom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute rhyming book that kids are sure to enjoy.

[Nancy Prater · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this retelling of the sorcerer's apprentice, and the questions to get kids' minds going creatively coming up with their own retellings at the end.

[Holly Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good story.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute :)

[Darcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The vocabulary threw me for a loop at first since I assumed given the short verses this book would be aimed more for younger crowd. But with "shirk" and "lout" used in the same verse it might be a bit much for younger kids. A good example of story retellings for upper elementary especially given the writing prompts in the back.

[Emily Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of funny. Illustrations are nice, but I think the vampire might frighten some children. Not the best story, but I like that it’s meant to be a retelling of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and includes some history of that poem/tale at the end.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent retelling of the Sorcerer's Apprentice, but awkward rhymes mean this would be a difficult read aloud.

[Miss Ryoko · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun retelling of The Sorcerer's Apprentice, but really, the illustrations are what make this story fantastic! They are wonderful!

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Neither Jane or I really liked this one. Clever rhyming, but the pictures are dark and the story just wasn't that likable.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of my least favorite YHBA 2018-2019 reads, I didn’t enjoy the moroseness of the pictures.

[1000springs · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book with audio.