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BUNNIES, CROCODILES, AND ME

Name: BUNNIES, CROCODILES, AND ME
Author: Frédéric Houssin
ISBN: 0-8109-4105-8

STORIES OF BABY BEGINNINGS

edited by Frédéric Houssin & Cédric Ramadier ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1999

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The cuddly baby bunny image on the jacket is not the most representative sensibility of this collection of tales written and illustrated by European artists—Peter Allen, Catherine Benas, Anne Brouillard, Alain Crozon, Gilles Eduar, Pascal Estellon, Katja Gehrmann, Bruno Gilbert, and Muzo—who tend more toward the wild and woolly. The first tale by Eduar is a truncated scheme of evolution, which gets people onto the scene with dispatch, then sets them off on little, ocean-going rafts to “see what they would see.” That answers the unstated premise question of the project, “Where did I come from?” with the same visual and textual abandon of many of the tales. Gehrmann’s “Me,” for example, may be best described as an Expressionistic cutaway of the gestation and birth of a calf. Muzo’s little monster, also seen in cutaway, doesn’t want to be born at all until its big brother promises a fight. Offerings for the very youngest children include a quick counting story by Allen, “1 to 10 in the Maternity Ward,” and an object identification chart of what’s “In My Suitcase.” Brouillard’s “Lots of Little Things” is very French in mien and mood, full of atomistic musings. There is something here for nearly every taste and developmental level, ideal for readers who don’t object to being dropped abruptly into a strange, fantastic, richly textured rabbit hole. (Anthology. 3-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-8109-4105-8

Page Count: 80

Publisher: Abrams

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1999

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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THE LITTLEST MATRYOSHKA

by Corinne Demas Bliss ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1999

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PLB 0-7868-2125-6 As is true for Pam Conrad’s Tub People, the events in a matryoshka doll’s life depend on external manipulations and circumstances; in this case, it makes the story of a perilous journey fall somewhat flat. A set of the nesting dolls is carved in a Russian village and then sent to a toy shop in America. The outer doll, Anna, has been instructed by the maker to watch over her siblings—“Keep your sisters safe inside you”—but there is nothing she can do when the smallest doll, Nina, is accidentally brushed off the counter and unceremoniously kicked out the door. It is an odyssey in which she has absolutely no active part, nor does she have reactions, for all she possesses is a blank matryoshka face. In the meantime, a young girl who has bought the rest of the set on sale charmingly tucks a little wad of cotton into the next-to-smallest doll so she won’t feel empty. Brown’s atmospheric but docile watercolors often view the matryoshka dolls from a distance, furthering the sense that the story is about events surrounding the dolls, instead of the dolls themselves. An author’s note on the history of matryoshkas is a welcome touch. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-7868-0153-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Hyperion

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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IN THE PALM OF DARKNESS

by Mayra Montero & translated by Edith Grossman ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1997

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In The Palm Of Darkness ($21.00; May 1997; 192 pp.; 0-06-018703- 4): A Cuban writers's intensely imaginative portrait of the extremities of Haitian culture rings some fresh changes on the overfamiliar theme of intellectual arrogance humbled by its collision with ``elemental'' peasant wisdom. Montero subtly builds up a revealing contrast between Victor Griggs, a European herpetologist searching for the remaining specimens of an endangered species of amphibian, and his native guide Thierry Adrien's memories of his family's encounter with the island's ubiquitous spirits. This truly original novel is studded with surprises—not least of which is the concept of a species suddenly and entirely disappearing in a milieu where the living and the dead are known to mingle together more or less matter-of-factly. A refreshingly sophisticated treat. (Author tour)