A nostalgic reverie by the author recalls his days growing up on a farm 50 years ago. The boyhood voice relates in straightforward text the experiences of gathering eggs, horseback riding, feeding pigs, fishing, sledding and learning to drive the tractor. The writing plods like a primer from those days, simply serving as a vehicle for the out-of-the-ordinary illustrations. The creative use of black-and-white photos with art is visually curious and eye-catching. Fletcher uses family photos in two techniques: Actual photos are mounted with corner tabs to resemble a photo album, while photographic rectangles appear cut out and inserted into the pastel drawings, continuing the drawn lines and creating the effect of binoculars focusing on an image and sharpening it. A note from the author, one-page glossary and one page of farming websites make this purposeful and suited to a unit on rural life. A more anecdotal telling would have tilled the ground better to tie in and germinate with the inventive art style. (Picture book/biography. 6-8)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-9766805-2-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Moo Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2005
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
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)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-399-24772-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2008
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