Invite readers again to visit the High and Far-Off Times in this piece culled from the Just So Stories. Two bank-dwellers along the turbid Amazon, Stickly-Prickly Hedgehog and Slow-and-Solid Tortoise, meet Painted Jaguar, armed with explicit instructions from his mother on the best way to recognize and devour each. The hedgehog and tortoise confuse their predator with some fancy wordplay, but believe their escape is short-lived. In order to continue to stymie their predator, the hedgehog learns to swim and the tortoise masters the knack of curling up. In the process, something of a transformation occurs and armadillos are the result. Kipling's liquid prose is as entertaining as ever; in dazzling accompaniment are Rowe's paintings—moody, comedic vignettes with dark backgrounds—that root the story to the banks of the Amazon and give it jolt of animation. A terrific, sophisticated introduction to Kipling. (Picture book/folklore. 6-9)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1995
ISBN: 1-55858-482-X
Page Count: 28
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1995
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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