A noted ornithologist contributes some stunning full-color illustrations and photographs to a disappointing book that introduces one bird for almost every letter of the alphabet. Children will enjoy browsing, but the information presented is often trivial and many of the illustrations appear to be recycled from other sources, e.g., a page on feathers shows 29 carefully numbered examples, without matching explanations or names. The text is pedestrian: ``C is for Cardinal. Cardinals sing `Birdy, birdy, birdy' and many other lovely songs in the spring,'' the laughing gull ``searches for just about anything to eat,'' and ``Color the Green Jay noisy, bold, and beautiful.'' (Picture book/nonfiction. 5-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-7893-0009-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1995
The tales of Wilhelm Hauff (18021827)—almost unknown in the U.S.—belong on every child's shelf. Shepard retells ``The Caliph Stork,'' a stylized imitation of the Arabian Nights that has become a part of Middle Eastern folklore. A merchant sells the Calif[sic] of Baghdad a magic snuffbox, which contains a powder that transforms him and his vizier into storks. But the magic word that is to turn them back into humans has no effect, and they find themselves trapped in their new forms. Wandering through the woods, the two storks meet a woodpecker who tells them that she is a princess put under the spell by a sorcerer. When they follow her to the sorcerer's hide-out, they discover that he is none other than the merchant who sold them the snuffbox. They overhear him bragging about his trick, whereupon he reveals the real magic word that will transform them. The Gothic overtones of Hauff's KunstmÑrchen have been removed in Shepard's simplified version (for example, in the original, the storks more tragically forget the magic word), but the story still works. In his first work, Dianov, with rich, ornately three- dimensional watercolors, displays his sensitivity to the oriental charms of the tale, paying as much attention to the details of costume and architecture as to the characters themselves. Everything has a cartoon-like plasticity, or unrealness; his colorful pictures, full of beards, turbans, and minarets, look as if they were made out of candy. (Picture book/folklore. 5-7)
Pub Date: April 24, 1995
ISBN: 0-395-65377-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1995
Poor Ima Bean! She doesn't mean to break Grandpa's fishing pole, send Hester the mule galloping through Mama Lima Bean's wash, wreck Brother Chili Bean's bicycle, or scatter a whole truckload of apples—each calamity just naturally follows on the heels of the last. Begining with a serene view of Mossyrock Creek, Lloyd builds the chaos in successive scenes until, with ``cabbages and carrots and `taters and `maters flying every whichaway,'' Ima bails out, packs a bag, and trudges dejectedly off in search of a new home. ``But wouldn't ya know!...in my family, you're always family...even when you goof!'' Instead of exile, Ima is last seen receiving hugs and comfort. In this comical, reassuring tale, Lloyd's precise lines and clean colors make even the wildest mishaps look curiously tidy. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: March 15, 1994
ISBN: 0-8234-1070-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1994
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