Creating thick-lined color woodcuts even simpler than the Caldecott-winning art of My Friend Rabbit (2002), Rohmann follows an unusual lad—or part of him, anyway—on an adventure-filled odyssey. Young Otho is normal enough, except that he was born with a pumpkin for a head. One day while out playing, his noggin is snatched away by a bat, who eventually drops it into the ocean, where it’s swallowed, then spit up, by a fish, netted by a fisherman, and purchased at last by Otho’s mother. She reattaches it to his body (which had been kept safe “in a cool, dry place”), and gently warns him to be more careful in the future, for “you know the world will always be more difficult for a boy with a pumpkin for a head.” Maybe Otho could get some pointers from Arthur Yorinks’s It Happened in Pinsk (1983). Decidedly offbeat, but Rohmann is plainly having as much fun as readers will as they watch Otho’s expression change as he rolls helplessly from one hazard to the next. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: Aug. 12, 2003
ISBN: 0-375-82416-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2003
In Joseph Jacob's version of this classic tale (in More English Folk and Fairy Tales), faithful Turpie tries to warn his owner of the wicked Hobyahs who come by night, intent on evil; but the old dog's ungrateful owner only punishes him for barking. He cuts off Turpie's tail, his legs, finally his head, till Turpie can bark no more. Then the Hobyahs return, destroying all but a kind little girl who's saved by a hunter and his dog. Much of the story's power comes from the horror that builds, night by night, with the Hobyahs' menace and the old man's cruelty. Here, in reducing the violence, San Souci loses much of the drama. He includes five dogs that are merely chased away one by one; in the end they all come back to rescue the girl. In his energetic illustrations, Natchev blends the natural and fantastical to create a dark, mildly eerie landscape. The dogs are as much comical as fierce; the Hobyahs—round-eyed, cat-like creatures in striped nightgowns—are not very scary. For those who relish the older tale, a disappointing substitute. San Souci explains his alterations in a scrupulous source note. (Folklore/Picture book. 7- 9)
Pub Date: April 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-385-30934-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1994
One picture book tells two stories and two aspects of the immigrant experience from the perspective of a child. The first story, “Painted Words,” follows Marianthe, new to the US, and her mother on the dreaded first day of school. Her mother tries to reassure the girl, but the classroom experience is all but overwhelming. Knowing no English, Marianthe draws pictures about herself during the art period, communicating in the only way she can. A patient teacher, some not-always-nice classmates, and success in English (“Slowly, like clouds lifting, things became clearer. Sticks and chicken feet became letters. Sputters and coughs became words. And the words had meanings”) give Marianthe the courage to take part in Life-Story Time, in the “Spoken Memories” section of the book. She tells the class of the baby brother who died before she was born, the village where she lived, the closeness of friends and neighbors, who rejoiced with the family when twin sons were born. Softly colored pencil and crayon drawings show the loving, supportive family, and the anxious and finally triumphant Marianthe, who finds a place in a new country. The storytelling is vivid and exquisitely emotional, making Aliki’s story painfully personal, yet resonant, in very few pages. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-688-15661-4
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1998
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