A lad pays the price for misdeeds past when he falls into a mistreated story book. Child explores this salutary premise in big, scribbly collages made of clipped photos and wallpaper applied over a double gatefold of a formal ball and other fairy-tale scenes. Falling asleep over his reading matter, Herb finds himself an interloper in “The Three Bears,” “Hansel and Gretel,” and other classics. He gets a very hostile reception—no surprise, as he horns in on Goldilocks’s big scene, and sees what’s happened since he clipped out Prince Charming to make a card for his mother, drew a mustache on the prince’s mother, and glued pictures of telephones onto every tale (look for them). Worse yet, thanks to careless reinsertion of some loose pages, Cinderella’s family—and the dialogue balloons in which they express their extreme displeasure—are upside down. Happily, once Herb makes his escape up a tottering pile of text, he does his best to mend matters—for all but the irascible Goldilocks, that is. Big good book, indeed. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-7868-0926-4
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2003
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Macdonald (Lots of O'Learys, 1994, etc.) hits the mark with this offering in the Chapters series of books. Francie wants to have the next meeting of the second-grade Comics Club at her house, but she has no privacy; with six kids in her family, including infant twins, the house is too crowded. She hopes to transform the old toolshed out back into a meeting place, but has no time to fix it up and only one friend to help her. Clear conflict, good pacing, and solid characterizations will keep new readers turning the pages, even if the references to comic strips are somewhat dated. Christelow's black-and-white illustrations are a good complement to the tale, making the lighthearted text even more accessible to new and reluctant readers. (Fiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-7868-0032-1
Page Count: 60
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The Billy-Goats-Gruff, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty and more of the usual suspects play out their tales on some of Great Britain's historic sites and estates: Stowe, the Giant's Causeway, Kedleston in Derby, the ``Bear's Hut'' on the grounds of Killeston, the garden tower at Cornwall's Trelissick, and Chirk Castle. Penney (Ian Penney's Book of Nursery Rhymes, 1994, not reviewed, etc.) has done plenty of adapting—Rapunzel's tale begins in the tower, and Hansel and Gretel only lock the witch in her cellar until she promises to mend her ways, then settle in with her and their woodcutter father in the scrumptious home—but the tales are comfortably familiar, with all but two of the eight tied to recognizable, theoretically visitable places. Viewers will linger over Penney's tiny, finely brushed architectural details and flora and fauna (not to mention the luscious bush pastries that tempt Hansel and Gretel), though the great houses and their surroundings are only glimpsed. Some of the appeal will be wasted on American children, but travelers, even of the armchair variety, might give it a go. (Picture book/folklore. 7-9)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-8109-3740-9
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
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