Winter (Beatrix, above, etc.) communicates her abiding interest in Mexican culture with this wonderfully atmospheric, all-dialogue tale of a child who leads a ritual chase in his village’s annual Fiesta of the Tigre (jaguar). His parents bid him wait until he’s older, but so great is little Niño’s determination to participate in the upcoming festival that he cuts, carves, and paints a wooden dog’s mask with minimal adult help. Evoking Mexican folk art, both with characteristic motifs and saturated colors, Winter follows her young artist as he discovers the animal “hidden” within his rough block. He dons the finished mask, chases the costumed “tigre” through fields and village streets, then trips it up at last, earning both general acclaim from fellow villagers, and a guarantee of good crops for the coming year. The hand-lettered text, placed in balloons, is sprinkled with Spanish (superfluously translated at the end), and Winter depicts more masks and costumes in a closing gallery. Children of any cultural background will enjoy this glimpse of Niño’s world, and understand the profound pleasure he takes in creating art. (Picture book. 6-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-8037-2807-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
For those who have seen the charming video of the same name, this will be an unhappy example of what happens when one medium is translated into another. Those who come to this without preconceived notions, however, will find glorious full-color photographs that capture pumpkin marvels, from the mountain of golden orange delights with a girl perched on them to the gorgeous close-ups of green sprouts, feathery buds, and full yellow flowers. The singsong text is often clumsy, rhyming “seeds” with “leaves,” “hair” with “appear,” and “vine” with “time.” The fascinating story of the growth of the pumpkin (and the pumpkin patch), from seed to jack-o-lantern, and then back, decaying, into the earth, is more fully conveyed in the pictures. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 1-58246-004-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Tricycle
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1999
Fans of The Tub People (1989) will welcome their return for a third gnomic drama. Arrayed before the fireplace, the extended wooden family is scattered when Someone comes down the chimney, bringing gifts and a small evergreen. Gathered up and placed in a deep pocket, the tiny figurines grow more and more anxious as they are removed one by one, to be reunited in the end as ornaments hung on a magnificent Christmas tree. Wrapping the tale with pleasant-looking angels, Egielski brings readers to a toy’s-eye-view with skillful close-ups, then pulls back for full-page portraits of Santa and the entire tree; as ever, the Tub People’s abbreviated gestures and subtle changes of expression are wonderfully affecting. An intimate alternative for those too young (or disinclined) to board The Polar Express. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: Oct. 31, 1999
ISBN: 0-06-026028-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1999
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