A clever tale packed with wry wit and charming illustrations.
Princess Cora, tired of her young life as a queen-in-training, asks her fairy godmother for a pet—with unexpected results.
When Princess Cora was born, the King and Queen (both white, like their daughter) exclaim over her perfection. But the realization that Cora will someday be queen turns their delight into an obsessive diligence in training Cora in dull topics punctuated by tedious exercise. Add the three-baths-a-day regime that her nanny (also white) insists on, and Cora is now one unhappy princess. Denied a pet dog, Cora writes an appeal to her fairy godmother, and the next morning finds a box at the foot of her bed containing a large crocodile. Schlitz’s dry humor is on gleeful display as the crocodile, switching places with Cora (so she can have a day off), evens the score on her behalf with the King, Queen, and nanny. The crocodile’s antics are juxtaposed against Cora’s pastoral day and enhanced by Floca’s ink, watercolor, and gouache illustrations, which superbly amplify the story’s emotional arc. All ends happily. And the crocodile? He may or may not be living in the lily pond, but Princess Cora tosses in cream puffs (the croc’s favorite thing besides chewing on people) whenever she walks her new pet dog, just in case he is.
A clever tale packed with wry wit and charming illustrations. (Illustrated fantasy. 6-9)Pub Date: March 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7636-4822-0
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Heroic Little Red makes such a splash that even though no one gets eaten or cut open, even the most ghoulish among young...
In this strangely familiar tale, the titular cephalopod meets a big bad tiger shark while carrying a basketful of crab cakes to her grandma.
Along with silly bits, this buoyant benthic variant includes lots of authentic marine detail. Dispatched with parental reminders to “stay out of the seaweed, and don’t ink strangers,” Little Red floats through a brightly colored reef, chasing the occasional shrimp and responding rather rudely to the greetings of a sea cucumber and a yellow octopus. No sooner does she arrive at Grandma’s than the toothy shark attacks—but after an exciting chase marked by a quick dive into the sand with an instant color change, plus a well-timed cloud of ink, Little Red escapes and goes off, tentacle in tentacle, with Grandma for a snack: “I bet we could wolf down these crab cakes.” Gotfredson gives most of the cast, including that sea cucumber, big human eyes but otherwise renders the reef and its tropical denizens with fair accuracy, and the authors append nature notes on cuttlefish and tiger sharks. The colors pop, and shifts in perspective keep readers engaged.
Heroic Little Red makes such a splash that even though no one gets eaten or cut open, even the most ghoulish among young readers won’t be disappointed. (websites) (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4556-2146-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Pelican
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
A good choice for telling, a poor one for showing.
Unbridled greed really puts the squeeze on the rotund trickster in this tale from Ghana.
The telling is a lively one, the illustrations dismal failures. As Anansi goes “walking, walking, walking. Woo!” he catches the scent of yams cooking in one village, chicken and rice in another, beans in a third, and other feasts. “Oh—I’m gon eat good today. Yes. Oh—I’m gon to eat good.” At each stop he ties a string around his waist and tells the villagers to pull when the food’s ready. Unfortunately, when all the strings are pulled at once, not only is Anansi unable to move in any direction, his waist gets squeezed down to the thinness that all spiders still exhibit. Arrington sandwiches her tale between wordy explanations and doesn’t offer a source note. But she uses repetition and cadence to lend her version a robust, distinctly oral character…and if the “Anansi Approved Recipes” for candied yams with marshmallows and for baked beans with barbecue sauce at the end aren’t exactly West African in origin, they’re still yummy. Allin, on the other hand, portrays Anansi with brown fur and anthropomorphic features, including a head and a neck. Moreover, perplexingly, all the villagers are cast as unclothed African animals living in stereotypical grass huts.
A good choice for telling, a poor one for showing. (Picture book/folk tale. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4556-2216-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Pelican
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
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