In this European version of Demi’s The Empty Pot (1990), an aging, childless king tests would-be successors by handing each a seed and telling him to plant it. Populating his illustrations mainly with grumbling, gorgeously clad knights viewed from various off-kilter angles, Hess also tucks in amusing details—and a farmer’s lad named Jack, who is just a spectator but gets a seed nonetheless. Despite his best efforts Jack can’t make anything grow, but when he reluctantly presents his empty pot, the king commends him for honesty (“I don’t know where those knights got their wonderful flowers from, but they weren’t from the seeds I gave them. You see, I boiled those seeds for a whole hour before giving them out”) and anoints the astonished lad. Jack becomes a nature-loving king who persuades many knights to exchange their swords for garden forks and is last seen posing like the male half of American Gothic. Chuckle-worthy, and with a seed of wisdom at its core. (source note) (Picture book/folktale. 7-9)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-84507-926-0
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2009
Trickling, bubbling, swirling, rushing, a river flows down from its mountain beginnings, past peaceful country and bustling city on its way to the sea. Hooper (The Drop in My Drink, 1998, etc.) artfully evokes the water’s changing character as it transforms from “milky-cold / rattling-bold” to a wide, slow “sliding past mudflats / looping through marshes” to the end of its journey. Willey, best known for illustrating Geraldine McCaughrean’s spectacular folk-tale collections, contributes finely detailed scenes crafted in shimmering, intricate blues and greens, capturing mountain’s chill, the bucolic serenity of passing pastures, and a sense of mystery in the water’s shadowy depths. Though Hooper refers to “the cans and cartons / and bits of old wood” being swept along, there’s no direct conservation agenda here (for that, see Debby Atwell’s River, 1999), just appreciation for the river’s beauty and being. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: June 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0792-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000
Every year since kindergarten, Harry’s Halloween costume has gotten scarier and scarier. What’s it going to be this year? He’s not telling. His classmates are all stunned when he shows up, not as some monster or a weird alien (well, not really)—but as neatly dressed Sgt. Joe Friday of Dragnet fame, wielding a notebook and out to get “just the facts, ma’am.” As she has in Harry’s 11 previous appearances (15, counting the ones his classmate Song Lee headlines), Kline (Marvin and the Mean Words, 1997, etc.) captures grammar-school atmosphere, personalities, and incidents perfectly, from snits to science projects gone hilariously wrong. She even hands Harry/Friday a chance to exercise his sleuthing abilities, with a supply of baby powder “fairy dust” gone mysteriously missing. As legions of fans have learned to expect, Harry comes through with flying colors, pinning down the remorseful culprit in 11 minutes flat. No surprises here, just reliable, child-friendly, middle-grade fare. Illustrations not seen. (Fiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-670-88864-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2000
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