Avi at his most Margaret Wise Brown–esque, in nine offbeat, gnomic tales, drawn from the 30 in his first, same-named collection (1970). Sounding very much like the stories that children would make up themselves, these are daffy and nonsensical, starting and ending in odd places and going sort of nowhere in the middle. The result, however, is inevitably a sly grin. In the title story, a boy and a cat compare notes about their days—“ ‘I went out West, looking for tigers. If you don’t believe me, look how dirty my hands are . . . ’ The Cat said, ‘Oh, sorry you were gone. While you were gone chasing tigers, a dragon came and ate all my food.’ ” Subsequently, a pair of girls dig “Tunnels” to China, and other tales pose such unusual problems as an elephant trying to drink water from a glass, a hippo striving to fit into a new car, and a Story searching for an end. Priceman (Little Red Riding Hood, not reviewed, etc.) also looks to her influences, with bright, swirling, vigorously brushed scenes reminiscent of color-drenched Chagall. These cheerfully unconventional, irresistibly buoyant episodes will brighten any young child’s outlook—and cheer up some adults, too. (Short stories. 4-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-689-83914-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Anne Schwartz/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2002
Who hasn’t shared the aggravation of a whole day’s worth of bone-rattling hiccups? Poor Skeleton wakes up with a deadly case that he can’t shake, and it’s up to his friend Ghost to think of something to scare them away. Cuyler (Stop, Drop, and Roll, 2001, etc.) cleverly brings readers through the ups and downs of Skeleton’s day, from shower to ball-playing. Home folk remedies (holding his breath, eating sugar) don’t seem to work, but Ghost applies a new perspective startling enough to unhinge listeners and Skeleton alike. While the concept is clever, it’s Schindler’s (How Santa Lost His Job, 2001, etc.) paintings, done with gouache, ink, and watercolor, that carry the day, showing Skeleton’s own unique problems—water pours out of his hollow eyes when he drinks it upside down, his teeth spin out of his head when he brushes them—that make a joke of the circumstances. Oversized spreads open the scene to read-aloud audiences, but hold intimate details for sharp eyes—monster slippers, sugar streaming through the hollow body. For all the hiccupping, this outing has a quiet feel not up to the standards of some of Cuyler’s earlier books, but the right audience will enjoy its fun. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-689-84770-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2002
A favorite Frost poem reveals how serendipitous choice affects a lifetime.
Robert Frost’s familiar 1915 poem presents enigmatic choices for an elementary-age boy.
A red-haired elementary-age boy trekking through golden woods with a beagle comes to a place where “two roads diverged.” Wishing he could “travel both,” the boy studies one road and then chooses the less-worn path, opting to keep the other road for “another day,” knowing he’s unlikely to “ever come back” and taking the road “less traveled by” could “make all the difference.” Richly hued illustrations in a palette of yellows and blues rely on simple rounded shapes, flat patterns, varying perspectives, and single- and double-page spreads to provide a possible context for Frost’s spare verse. Dwarfed by stylized trees resembling giant yellow toadstools, the boy begins his journey wearing a striped hoodie, blue backpack, jeans, and red boots. An impressive treetop view shows boy and beagle confronting the diverging path, emphasizing the magnitude of choice. The boy picks up fallen leaves, ponders two unknown roads, selects a leaf for his backpack, and proceeds along his chosen path. As he journeys, scenes from his ensuing life unfold, carrying him from childhood to becoming a young man with a family and eventually an elderly man, still musing about the choice he made in the woods that indeed changed everything. Inexplicably, his hair darkens from red to brown with a single page turn, which is likely to befuddle more than one reader.
A favorite Frost poem reveals how serendipitous choice affects a lifetime. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64170-107-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Familius
Review Posted Online: Dec. 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
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