While Luke is asleep, his toy soldiers and elegant cardboard theater blow up and become life-sized. He and his cat, Rags, find themselves in the middle of a battle between the soldiers (led by Captain Fearsome) and ``that infamous scalawag Longnose.'' Bombs come sailing over the backdrop as Longnose tries to take over the stage. The soldiers ask Luke to be their general, and he accepts. So begins a swashbuckling swordfight worthy of an Errol Flynn film. Luke and Rags triumph over the evil Longnose and, after saying goodnight to everyone in the theater (which is slowly starting to shrink back to it's normal size), they head for bed. Once again, McClintock (Animal Fables from Aesop, 1991) delivers an exquisitely illustrated book. The story is a classic adventure tale, but her drawings are so detailed and charming that she makes it seem new. The theater sets, which resemble 19th-century shadow boxes, are particularly well executed, but the small unframed images are also delightful. A superb and inventive book by a truly talented illustrator. (Fiction/Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-395-65751-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1994
What if the market was closed when you wanted to bake a pie? You could embark for Europe, learn Italian en route, and pick up some semolina wheat in Italy, an egg in France, kurundu bark for cinnamon in Sri Lanka, and an entire cow in England (butter) before coming home via Jamaica (sugar) and Vermont (apples). The expertly designed illustrations in which a dark-haired lass journeys by various means to these interesting places to get her groceries are lovely and lively, and the narrative, too, travels at a spritely pace. The journey is neither quite logical enough to be truly informative nor quite bizarre enough to be satisfyingly silly, while the rich, sweet recipe that's appended will take some adult assistance. Still, fun. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 2, 1994
ISBN: 0-679-83705-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1994
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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