A husband-and-wife team reconfigures a classic with a hefty dose of Texas twang and the lankiest cowpokes in history. “It ain’t much,” says Dan of the cat he inherits from his rodeo-clown father. But Puss aims to please. “You go on and get me a pair of cowboy boots,” says the anthropomorphized animal. “I got me a plan that’s gonna make you gladder than a mosquito at a blood bank and will keep me in sardines and sweet cream for life!” Huling’s accomplished watercolors reflect the colors of sun, sand, and desert wildflowers as Puss dupes an oil baron (Mr. Patoot) into thinking Dan’s a wealthy rancher, then orchestrates a love connection between Dan and the man’s daughter, Rosie May. In one full-bleed illustration, Dan, Mr. Patoot, and Rosie May relax on a picnic blanket after Mr. Patoot’s driver saves Dan from drowning; a vignette, opposite, shows the driver with a new suit and hat for Dan. By the time they get to town Mr. Patoot and Rosie May think Dan is loaded (Puss, who’s traveled ahead, convinces cowboys and oil workers to tell them Dan owns the livestock and rigs). When Puss tricks an ogre into turning himself into a mouse—so he can eat him—he claims the ogre’s castle for Dan. In the end, Rosie May and Dan are married. Will she still love him when she learns he’s a liar? Those in search of fairy-tale retellings will likely enjoy the Huling’s faithful adaptation. Even though it verges on verbose, this debut is sure to find a regional readership. And the illustrator is definitely a talent to watch. (Picture book. 6-9)
Pub Date: June 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-689-83119-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2002
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
Keena Ford’s second-grade class is taking a field trip to the United States Capitol. This good-hearted girl works hard to behave, but her impulsive decisions have a way of backfiring, no matter how hard she tries to do the right thing. In this second book in a series, Keena cuts off one of her braids and later causes a congressman to fall down the stairs. The first-person journal format is a stretch—most second graders can barely write, let alone tell every detail of three days of her life. Children will wonder how Keena can cut one of her “two thick braids” all the way off by pretend-snipping in the air. They will be further confused because the cover art clearly shows Keena with a completely different hairdo on the field trip than the one described. Though a strong African-American heroine is most welcome in chapter books and Keena and her family are likable and realistic, this series needs more polish before Keena writes about her next month in school. (Fiction. 6-9)
Pub Date: July 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3264-3
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2009
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