A tale collected by the WPA's Federal Writers' Project, admired by Carl Sandburg as ``a fresh modern masterpiece,'' and now reinterpreted by a ``story performer'' (The Legend of Lightning Larry, p. 306). The aptly named Slappy is a Bunyan- style prodigy of a sign painter: his pictures are so lifelike that roses wilt, an eagle flies away, and a billboard depicting a beach for the ``Sunshine Travel Agency'' decimates trade by attracting sunbathers right in town. Irate customers give up hiring the hapless Slappy, but when ``the Boss'' sends a winged, paint-spattered messenger to draft him for rainbows and sunsets, His standards suit the overcapable painter to a T: ``If it isn't too good, it's not good enough!'' Goffe's freewheeling cartoons perfectly complement this well-told, amiably satirical tale. (Folklore/Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 30, 1993
ISBN: 0-684-19535-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1993
Floyd and Denise update “The Tortoise and the Hare” for primary readers, captioning each soft-focus, semi-rural scene with a short, simple sentence or two. Rabbit proposes running to school, while his friend Turtle takes the bus: no contest at first, as the bus makes stop after deliberate stop, but because Rabbit pauses at a pushcart for a snack, a fresh-looking Turtle greets his panting, disheveled friend on the school steps. There is no explicit moral, but children will get the point—and go on to enjoy Margery Cuyler’s longer and wilder Road Signs: A Harey Race with a Tortoise (p. 957). (Easy reader. 5-7)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-15-202679-7
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2000
A tall-tale introduction to the ``King of the Keelboatmen,'' from the time he ran away from home at the age of two days to his literally explosive confrontation with steamboat captain Hilton B. Blathersby. The historical Fink was a cruel man who came to a violent end, but Kellogg depicts him as a friendly-looking, fun-loving youth; indeed, nearly all of the keelboatmen here- -black, white, old, and young—are smiling, clean-cut types, rather at odds with their usual roughneck image. Though Fink spends much of his time wrestling men or bears, Kellogg's description of him seems bland in comparison to his glowing, energetic illustrations, and less heroic than his other legendary figures. (Picture book/Folktale. 6-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 21, 1992
ISBN: 0-688-07003-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1992
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