Ransome’s haunting wintertime story first appeared in Old Peter’s Russian Tales (1916). Here, the storytelling is more timeless, less quirky and conversational. A childless old Russian couple longs for a daughter, so they build a girl out of snow: “ ‘Won’t you run about like the others, little white pigeon?’ cried the old woman.” The snow girl does indeed come to life, singing a merry song that bears a warning: “But whenever I do know / That you love me little, then / I shall melt away again.” The family is happy until one day when Little Daughter gets lost in the woods. She’s rescued by a fox, but when he demands a plump hen in exchange for the girl, the old couple tries to outfox the fox with a rather mean trick. Disappointed that she’s not worth even a hen to her new-found parents, Little Daughter makes good on her promise and disappears forever. Bower’s canvas-textured, stylized, folk art–style illustrations add color, humor and playfulness to this engaging, though morally muddled tale of love found and lost. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2005
ISBN: 1-84507-297-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2005
BOOK REVIEW
Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 23, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-00361-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
At her best, Rylant’s (The Ticky-Tacky Doll, below, etc.) sweetness and sentiment fills the heart; in this outing, however, sentimentality reigns and the end result is pretty gooey. Pandora keeps a lighthouse: her destiny is to protect ships at sea. She’s lonely, but loves her work. She rescues Seabold and heals his broken leg, and he stays on to mend his shipwrecked boat. This wouldn’t be so bad but Pandora’s a cat and Seabold a dog, although they are anthropomorphized to the max. Then the duo rescue three siblings—mice!—and make a family together, although Rylant is careful to note that Pandora and Seabold each have their own room. Choosing what you love, caring for others, making a family out of love, it is all very well, but this capsizes into silliness. Formatted to look like the start of a new series. Oh, dear. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-689-84880-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2002
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