A beautifully told, wonderfully illustrated story of kindness and generosity.
An old woman who grants wishes travels through her lonely life in this poignant modern-day fairy tale about wishes, greed, and acceptance by debut author/illustrator Finning.
Hazelita is an old woman who has no home and few possessions. The one thing she has of worth is a magic broom her mother left her. If Hazelita uses it to sweep, it grants a wish for whomever owns the home she’s sweeping. She offers her gift in trade for a meal and a place to sleep as she travels, and many homeowners are more than willing to trade, though they rarely offer anything beyond the bare minimum. As the story begins, Hazelita’s travels have been going on for some time, to the point that the fame of the Broom Lady precedes her. At the first home in the tale, she’s offered only leftovers from the family’s meal, then left in solitude; she cries herself to sleep. In the morning, her broom grants the wish of the homeowner, who is suddenly rich; without further thought, the homeowner ushers Hazelita out the door. The next stop is much the same: a modicum of food and shelter in exchange for the transformation of a home into a large palace. At the third house, Hazelita is welcomed inside and treated as an honored guest. But despite the family’s generosity, Hazelita still cries herself to sleep. In the morning, despite the protests of the family, Hazelita sweeps—but nothing happens. As word spreads that the broom is broken, Hazelita is turned away, only to return to the generous family and, to her surprise, receive her own happy ending. Written in the style of an old fairy tale, this modern twist features contemporary homes and places from the author’s home state of Connecticut. The tale curiously lacks comeuppance for the wishing families who treated the old woman disrespectfully. Despite that, the heroes here are clearly in the family that offers love and acceptance and finds kindness more valuable than riches. Finning’s illustrations vary between magical images, as when the broom does its work surrounded by rainbow curlicues, and more detailed illustrations grounded in the scene, e.g., of Hazelita approaching a house or the family dancing around with the money they wished for. An illustration of Hazelita crying at night is particularly touching.
A beautifully told, wonderfully illustrated story of kindness and generosity.Pub Date: July 22, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4327-5441-9
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Outskirts Press Inc.
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The seemingly ageless Seeger brings back his renowned giant for another go in a tuneful tale that, like the art, is a bit sketchy, but chockful of worthy messages. Faced with yearly floods and droughts since they’ve cut down all their trees, the townsfolk decide to build a dam—but the project is stymied by a boulder that is too huge to move. Call on Abiyoyo, suggests the granddaughter of the man with the magic wand, then just “Zoop Zoop” him away again. But the rock that Abiyoyo obligingly flings aside smashes the wand. How to avoid Abiyoyo’s destruction now? Sing the monster to sleep, then make it a peaceful, tree-planting member of the community, of course. Seeger sums it up in a postscript: “every community must learn to manage its giants.” Hays, who illustrated the original (1986), creates colorful, if unfinished-looking, scenes featuring a notably multicultural human cast and a towering Cubist fantasy of a giant. The song, based on a Xhosa lullaby, still has that hard-to-resist sing-along potential, and the themes of waging peace, collective action, and the benefits of sound ecological practices are presented in ways that children will both appreciate and enjoy. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83271-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
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