A brilliantly conceived and produced collection of stories from major world religions, organized into sections titled ``Creation Stories,'' ``Flood Stories,'' ``Birth, Courtship, and Marriage,'' etc. Extensively researched and lavishly illustrated, the volume includes vibrant, full-color watercolors in a folk-art style on nearly every page. Ganeri's tellings are fluid and outwardly effortless: formal enough to lend an air of authenticity, accessible enough to keep readers engaged from one story to the next. The selections are arranged to highlight similarities as well as differences among the religions and impart a sense that all God's children are more united than divided by their beliefs. A factual appendix sheds light on each faith, while a ``Who's Who'' helps place the leaders and major prophets. A treasure. (Short stories. 8-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-200943-4
Page Count: 104
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1996
Pippi is an inspired creation knit from daydreams.
A fresh delicious fantasy that children will love.
In the character of 9-year-old Pippi Longstocking, who was lucky to have no parents to tell her what to do, is a juvenile Robin Hood with the authority of Mammy Yokum and a Mighty Mouse. Pippi- red headed, in longstockings (one black and one brown), and the strongest girl in the world was the friend of Tommy and Annika. Calmly and ingeniously she put down the enemy forces of the adult world — with a serene efficiency. The teacher was baffled by her logic in pointing out the futility of learning arithmetic; bullies she hoisted on trees; at the circus Pippi rode bareback, walked the tightrope, and wrestled the wrestling champ; cream and sugar flowed (on the floor) when Pippi attended a ladies' coffee party where she revealed "horrid things" with the complacency of Eliza Doolittle. Champion of fun, freedom and fantasy and long happy thoughts,
Pippi is an inspired creation knit from daydreams.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 1950
ISBN: 978-0-14-030957-7
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1950
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
In this short fantasy novel, nine-year-old Rowanna, who lives in an isolated cottage with an old fisherman she calls Master, longs to learn more about her mother. Master has forbidden Rowanna to enter the woods near the cottage, which he claims are full of dangerous tree ghouls. But a playful young bear coaxes Rowanna into the woods and after they becomes friends, she spends her days there. On High Hallow Eve, the two friends take a day-long journey to find the tree where Master discovered Rowanna as a baby. A wild night ensues when the tree spirits emerge and dance with joy, and Rowanna learns the secret of her mother, who is a willow tree. The revelation, though, creates a major inconsistency in the fantasy, causing the reader to wonder why the mother’s tree spirit didn’t simply rescue Rowanna years earlier. Barron (The Wings of Merlin, 2000, etc.) writes lyrically about the forest and seasons, but he has unfortunately tried to give the language an old-fashioned sound by repeated use of words like “mayhaps” and “aye.” He also relies heavily on exclamation points and italics to add emotion. For example, when Rowanna sees a drawing in the sand, she realizes, “It was the face of the master himself! Aye, that it was!” The uncomplicated, slightly predictable story will appeal only to fantasy and fairy-tale lovers who can overlook the often stilted prose. Forsooth. (Fiction 8-11)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-399-23457-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2001
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