Any child who has faced a scary new situation will understand why Crowboy, presumably a Native American boy from the Southwest, adopts a rattlesnake persona on the first day of school. If he’s a mean old rattlesnake, who would hurt him? So transformed, he slithers onto the bus and coils up under the desk in class: “But the teacher said, ‘Don’t worry, Crowboy. You’ll make friends.’ ” He’s skeptical, but there is one girl who doesn’t seem to be put off by the whole “snake thing.” In fact, she wants to slither right along with him! Strete’s story illustrates how completely the boy withdraws into his fantasy self, so it’s perfect that Cravath’s stylized, wonderfully vivacious, desert-hued, chalky illustrations depict Crowboy as an actual, albeit endearingly anthropomorphized, rattlesnake. Children will giggle as the boy-snake licks the bus window and refuses to eat hot dogs—and will cheer to see that by the end, Crowboy retracts his snaky fangs, literally and figuratively. An original, funny, non-preachy spin on the “bullies just want a friend” theme. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: July 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-399-23572-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2004
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25248-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009
SEEN & HEARD
What if the market was closed when you wanted to bake a pie? You could embark for Europe, learn Italian en route, and pick up some semolina wheat in Italy, an egg in France, kurundu bark for cinnamon in Sri Lanka, and an entire cow in England (butter) before coming home via Jamaica (sugar) and Vermont (apples). The expertly designed illustrations in which a dark-haired lass journeys by various means to these interesting places to get her groceries are lovely and lively, and the narrative, too, travels at a spritely pace. The journey is neither quite logical enough to be truly informative nor quite bizarre enough to be satisfyingly silly, while the rich, sweet recipe that's appended will take some adult assistance. Still, fun. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 2, 1994
ISBN: 0-679-83705-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1994
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