Alas, this one isn’t a swan after all.
There are good reasons some of Andersen’s tales have gone out of vogue.
Lewis and Chichester Clark attempt a fresh take on selections of Andersen’s literary fairy tales, endeavoring to reaffirm the classic status of such familiar tales as “The Princess and the Pea,” “The Little Match Girl” and “The Nightingale” while at the same time reviving more obscure stories, such as “The Happy Family,” “The Money Box Pig” and “The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep.” The latter tale has much in common with the better-known (and better) “Steadfast Tin Soldier,” but it pales in comparison due to its use of outmoded terms such as a reference to “an old Chinaman, a Mandarin [figurine] who could nod his head.” The titular shepherdess, meanwhile, embodies the very essence of insipid feminine helplessness, making it hard to see why the chimney sweep fancies her at all. This story isn’t the solitary weak spot in the collection—downright odd (not intriguing, but alienating) plots are unlikely to demand repeat readings, and the tired story of a patriarch marrying off a girl is revisited to absurd extremes in “The Jumping Competition.” Meanwhile, more familiar tales are watered-down, at best. Chichester Clark’s soft, whimsical pictures do punctuate humorous elements of the stories, and a picture of flowers dancing in the nighttime is a highlight of the book. Reteller Antonia Barber and illustrator Margaret Chamberlain attempt a similar update of nine mostly familiar Tales from Grimm, publishing simultaneously, with greater success.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-84780-510-2
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2014
Cool ideas, good execution, mediocre text.
Readers are challenged to unlock the secrets of a haunted house, with the aid of a "magic glass."
"Open at your own risk!" declares a message on the inside cover of the book, just above an elegant envelope. As if this isn't spooky enough, a skeleton's arm wreathed in smoke points at the envelope from below. Inside the sealed envelope is a rectangle of plastic, 2" x 3 1/4" and 1/8" thick, bordered with a design featuring the sun and the moon. Illustrations and three pages of instructions explain how to use the lens; placing it over selected images in the book guides readers/sleuths, providing clues, code keys and answers. There are 10 two-page spreads, spooky tableaux in mostly dark hues, nicely designed by Junko Miyakoshi. These include a Ouija board; a desk with old books, a candelabra, a skull and three crystal balls (readers choose their own fates from among them); a graveyard; mystery journals; even the gates of Hades. Instructions are in verse, each about a dozen lines per spread. Some are solid enough ("The dead it seems are quite alive / Buzzing in their graveyard hive"), but most are awkward near-rhymes ("Now that you have found your ghosts / It's time to look for UFO's"). The book ends with an answer key. And a bonus! A website (TheSpiritGlass.com) with 13 more puzzles.
Cool ideas, good execution, mediocre text. (Puzzle book. 7-10)Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-934734-49-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Seven Footer Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Still, the intergenerational intimacy comes through clearly and should leave readers thinking about faraway relatives of...
Letters exchanged between a San Antonio child and her distant grandfather create a link that bridges miles and years in this slight but loving family story.
So strong are memories of outings together and music on a requinto (guitar) played “with an almost angelic touch” that 11-year-old Camila tries to bicycle all the way to her grandpa in Mexico. When that fails, she writes: “I have the picture of you… on my dresser and I look at it every day. Will you please write back?” Eight years later (but with just a few quick samples of a continuing correspondence), she flies down at last for a joyful reunion, returning after a long stay with the requinto as a memento. Rough-hewn, heavily brushed paintings tracking Camila’s progress to adulthood and Grandpa’s to gray-haired old age accompany narrative passages of English over Spanish. These sometimes dart across several years without transition, and the book concludes with an open-ended scene that will leave readers unsure whether Grandpa is still alive or not.
Still, the intergenerational intimacy comes through clearly and should leave readers thinking about faraway relatives of their own. . (picture glossary) (Bilingual picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: May 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-60448-024-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Lectura
Review Posted Online: March 6, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
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