THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN WHO LIVED IN A BOOT

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THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN WHO LIVED IN A BOOT

Name: THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN WHO LIVED IN A BOOT
Author: Linda Smith
ISBN: 0-06-028691-1

by Linda Smith & illustrated by Jane Manning ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2003

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The author of Mrs. Biddlebox (2002) posits another irascible senior citizen, this one living in a big boot with only an equally irritable cat for company. The arrival of five rambunctious children to a neighboring shoe sends both scurrying to the nearest witch for a supply of “Kiddie-Be-Gone.” Unfortunately, it’s a stale batch (and she doesn’t read the instructions); suddenly, the coterie of cheerful young folk is transformed into a huddle of grumpy, querulous oldsters, “Some saggy and baggy, with moles on their skin, / Some crinkled and wrinkled, with rolls on their chin.” Manning sets this cautionary tale in a landscape of rolling hills and widely scattered shoes and cottages. The old folk are all marked by scowls beneath oversized red noses—until the old woman hastily stirs up a batch of “Kiddie-Come-Back” that restores her neighbors to a fresh-faced, “clattering, chattering, clamoring crew” of children. “Now what would that old woman do?” Well, if you can’t beat ’em. . . . Readers of Mother Goose with lingering questions about that old woman with so many children will find some answers at last, in this lively take on the traditional rhyme. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2003

ISBN: 0-06-028691-1

Page Count: 32

Publisher: HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2003

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
THE INSIDE TREE
by Linda Smith & illustrated by David Parkins

- BOOK REVIEW
MRS. CRUMP’S CAT
by Linda Smith & illustrated by David Roberts

- BOOK REVIEW
MRS. BIDDLEBOX
by Linda Smith & illustrated by Marla Frazee

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BERRY MAGIC

by Teri Sloat & Betty Huffman & illustrated by Teri Sloat ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2004

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Sloat collaborates with Huffman, a Yu’pik storyteller, to infuse a traditional “origins” tale with the joy of creating. Hearing the old women of her village grumble that they have only tasteless crowberries for the fall feast’s akutaq—described as “Eskimo ice cream,” though the recipe at the end includes mixing in shredded fish and lard—young Anana carefully fashions three dolls, then sings and dances them to life. Away they bound, to cover the hills with cranberries, blueberries, and salmonberries. Sloat dresses her smiling figures in mixes of furs and brightly patterned garb, and sends them tumbling exuberantly through grassy tundra scenes as wildlife large and small gathers to look on. Despite obtrusively inserted pronunciations for Yu’pik words in the text, young readers will be captivated by the action, and by Anana’s infectious delight. (Picture book/folktale. 6-8)

Pub Date: June 1, 2004

ISBN: 0-88240-575-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2004

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
ZIP! ZOOM! ON A BROOM
by Teri Sloat ; illustrated by Rosalinde Bonnet

- BOOK REVIEW
PABLO IN THE SNOW
by Teri Sloat ; illustrated by Rosalinde Bonnet

- BOOK REVIEW
THERE WAS AN OLD MAN WHO PAINTED THE SKY
by Teri Sloat and illustrated by Stefano Vitale

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RAPUNZEL

adapted by Rachel Isadora & illustrated by Rachel Isadora ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2008

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Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your dreads! Isadora once again plies her hand using colorful, textured collages to depict her fourth fairy tale relocated to Africa. The narrative follows the basic story line: Taken by an evil sorceress at birth, Rapunzel is imprisoned in a tower; Rapunzel and the prince “get married” in the tower and she gets pregnant. The sorceress cuts off Rapunzel’s hair and tricks the prince, who throws himself from the tower and is blinded by thorns. The terse ending states: “The prince led Rapunzel and their twins to his kingdom, where they were received with great joy and lived happily every after.” Facial features, clothing, dreadlocks, vultures and the prince riding a zebra convey a generic African setting, but at times, the mixture of patterns and textures obfuscates the scenes. The textile and grain characteristic of the hewn art lacks the elegant romance of Zelinksy’s Caldecott version. Not a first purchase, but useful in comparing renditions to incorporate a multicultural aspect. (Picture book/fairy tale. 6-8)