A pleasingly solid retelling.
Souhami gives “The Fisherman and His Wife” a hopeful twist.
Souhami’s backmatter author’s note explains that she wanted to retell this old tale with sympathy for the characters, whom she resists depicting as they appear in other versions: “a horrible, greedy and nagging old woman” and “a weak, hen-pecked milksop.” Instead, she presents a couple worn down by poverty who are grateful when the magic fish grants their wish for “a small dry cottage…a blue teapot…[a]nd some bread and cheese in the larder.” They’re satisfied for a month before greed brings them back to the sea with grander wishes for status and material wealth. The duration of the couple’s contentment diminishes with every new wish granted, until the fish finally returns them to their initial state of poverty. But Souhami doesn’t leave them in dire straits. Instead, a closing picture shows them happily trying to net fish above text that reads, “But I hope that they caught lots of ordinary fish to sell at the market. And that they gradually became happy. What do you think?” Along with this use of direct address, expressive collage art that evokes something of Margot Zemach’s style will engage readers with depictions of the increasingly exasperated magic fish and how the couple and their home are transformed from scene to scene with their increasing wealth.
A pleasingly solid retelling. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-91095-918-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Otter-Barry
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
Delightful—especially appealing for young readers who have or wish for a puppy.
A lyrical exploration of how wolves evolved into dogs.
Thousands of years ago, humans and wolves competed for prey, but gradually some wolves evolved to become the companions of humans. This picture book uses a simple repeating narrative theme to effectively present this evolution. A Stone Age girl meets a wolf pup, and they become friends, but the pup stays with its wolf family as it grows because “everyone knew girls and wolves could not be friends.” Moving forward “years and years” ahead, a boy, now living in a hut of “branches and hides” befriends a wolf pup. Their friendship is closer, but still they separate as they grow. This scenario is repeated twice more, each scenario advancing the evolutionary time frame while cleverly underscoring the enduring constancy of the child-puppy attraction—an attraction that is delightfully played out in the story’s conclusion as well as the wonderful endpapers. The colorful, uncomplicated illustrations follow a pattern in their design that echoes the comfortable rhythm of the narrative—but these are no stodgy presentations. The confident use of light as both definitive highlights and atmosphere gives them a bright, clear, and uplifting buoyancy. A more detailed explanation of the science and history of the wolf-to-dog evolution and a bibliography are contained in the backmatter. All human characters are illustrated with light brown skin and black hair. (This book was reviewed digitally with 8.5-by-19.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 33% of actual size.)
Delightful—especially appealing for young readers who have or wish for a puppy. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Feb. 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-374-31343-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The premise of this series kickoff is better than the presentation.
A museum educator takes a stab at comparing medieval arms and armor to lobster tails and other animal defenses.
Baill juxtaposes stock animal photos, some in color, some not, with photos of full suits or pieces of armor (ditto) from the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. These accompany either discussion-starting questions like “What do slimy snails and shining armor have in common?” or such audience-friendly observations as “A group of rhinos is called a crash.” Several of the photographed figures are too dark to make out smaller details easily, though, and except for a ladybug on a blade of grass, all are placed without visual context against low-contrast monochrome backgrounds that sometimes darken them further. Claims that rhinos can reach “their top speed in no time” and that armored knights could still run and jump are at best credulity stretching. A comment that every ring in a shirt of chain mail “is stamped with the name of an important person” is, frustratingly, not backed up with a closer look at the shirt. An appendix offers further details about the artifacts but not the animals—which leaves readers to guess, for instance, how that ladybug’s “bright color is a warning to other creatures.” Younger museumgoers might better arm themselves with the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Can You Find It? series.
The premise of this series kickoff is better than the presentation. (author's note) (Informational picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-61689-955-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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