In her latest, Baca offers another tale about the appealing and not always sensible Benito. This time, as young Christina complains to her grandmother about summer heat, her grandmother tells her of a terrible drought in the days when her father Benito was just a boy, struggling alongside his mother to keep their farm going. After passing out while plowing under the blazing sun, Benito wakes to find a scarecrow has come to life and claims to know how to end the drought: by throwing balls of dough into the air to draw the rain and it works! When the balls of dough return to earth with the rain, Benito's mother fries them, thus creating sopaipillas—puffy cloud-like pillows of bread, “soup catchers.” Accardo's illustrations are full-page panels, expressive, colorful and old-fashioned, just like the story itself. Young readers may wonder why no one else seems to know this sure-fire cure for drought, but the very foolishness of it will likely charm them. Both English and Spanish versions move smoothly and quickly, and best of all, there’s a recipe for the treat at the end. (Picture book. 6-9)
Pub Date: April 30, 2007
ISBN: 1-55885-370-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Piñata Books/Arte Público
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2007
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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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
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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A Cinderella parody features the off-the-wall, whang-dang Texas hyperbole of Ketteman (The Year of No More Corn, 1993, etc.) and the insouciance of Warhola, who proves himself only too capable of creating a fairy godcow; that she's so appealingly whimsical makes it easy to accept the classic tale's inversions. The protagonist is Bubba, appropriately downtrodden and overworked by his wicked stepdaddy and loathsome brothers Dwayne and Milton, who spend their days bossing him around. The other half of the happy couple is Miz Lurleen, who owns ``the biggest spread west of the Brazos.'' She craves male companionship to help her work the place, ``and it wouldn't hurt if he was cute as a cow's ear, either.'' There are no surprises in this version except in the hilarious way the premise plays itself out and in Warhola's delightful visual surprises. When Lurleen tracks the bootless Bubba down, ``Dwayne and Milton and their wicked daddy threw chicken fits.'' Bubba and babe, hair as big as a Texas sun, ride off to a life of happy ranching, and readers will be proud to have been along for the courtship. (Picture book/folklore. 6-8)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-590-25506-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1997
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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