Hong illustrates this new, if familiarly premised, legend about a historical Tang Dynasty artist with big, splendidly accomplished paintings, brushed on brown silk in a traditional style. Little Han Gan is too poor to afford brushes and paper, but such is his talent that even a drawing in the dirt earns him the support of renowned painter Wang Wei. This is followed by admission to an academy and wide fame for painting horses so spirited that they are said to come to life. One night, a literal-minded warrior comes to beg for a steed, and Han Gan actually creates one that springs off the paper. After many battles, though, the horse tires of the blood and death, and so Han Gan wakes one day to find that a sixth has joined the five horses he painted the day before. The youthful but dignified painter, the glowering warrior and especially the succession of muscular, proud, subtly hued horses will have a powerful impact on young audiences. Shelve this plainly told tale next to such similar tales of artistic transformations as Elizabeth Partridge’s Kogi’s Mysterious Journey (2003), Margaret Leaf’s Eyes of the Dragon (1987) or the various renditions of “The Boy Who Drew Cats.” (author’s note) (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2006
ISBN: 1-59270-063-2
Page Count: 38
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Nolen and Nelson offer a smaller, but no less gifted counterpart to Big Jabe (2000) in this new tall tale. Shortly after being born one stormy night, Rose thanks her parents, picks a name, and gathers lightning into a ball—all of which is only a harbinger of feats to come. Decked out in full cowboy gear and oozing self-confidence from every pore, Rose cuts a diminutive, but heroic figure in Nelson’s big, broad Western scenes. Though she carries a twisted iron rod as dark as her skin and ropes clouds with fencing wire, Rose overcomes her greatest challenge—a pair of rampaging twisters—not with strength, but with a lullaby her parents sang. After turning tornadoes into much-needed rain clouds, Rose rides away, “that mighty, mighty song pressing on the bull’s-eye that was set at the center of her heart.” Throughout, she shows a reflective bent that gives her more dimension than most tall-tale heroes: a doff of the Stetson to her and her creators. (author’s note) (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-15-216472-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Silver Whistle/Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2003
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