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SAINT PATRICK AND THE PEDDLER

Name: SAINT PATRICK AND THE PEDDLER
Author: Margaret Hodges
ISBN: 0-531-05489-6

adapted by Margaret Hodges & illustrated by Paul Brett Johnson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1993

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Reshaping a tale found in both Jacobs's More English Fairy Tales and Sawyer's The Way of the Storyteller (as she explains in an excellent note), Hodges creates a briefer, more accessible tale retaining enough of Sawyer's Irish lilt for a pleasing flavor. A generous peddler has given away so much that he's destitute. Going to bed hungry—in his cabin near Ballymena, where Saint Patrick once lived—he dreams that the saint sends him to Dublin, where ``you will hear what you were meant to hear.'' After the saint's third dream-visitation, the peddler complies and meets a Dubliner who scoffs at his own three dreams- -about a treasure back in Ballymena, where the peddler duly finds it. In Sawyer's tale, he builds a chapel for weary travelers; here, the still-generous peddler's wealth allows him to have a beautiful wife and children, but the updated conclusion doesn't really change the story's essential tenor. Johnson renders an idyllic countryside in the spirit of Constable, but the romantic landscapes don't overwhelm the story (as Thomas Locker's tend to do); rather, they make a dramatic setting for the lively, effectively characterized figures. An auspicious blend of appealing story and engaging visual interpretation. (Folklore/Picture book. 4-10)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1993

ISBN: 0-531-05489-6

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Orchard

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1993

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WEE CHRISTMAS CABIN
adapted by Margaret Hodges and illustrated by Kimberly Bulcken Root

- BOOK REVIEW
MOSES
by Margaret Hodges & illustrated by Barry Moser

- BOOK REVIEW
DICK WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT
adapted by Margaret Hodges & illustrated by Mélisande Potter

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NOAH CHASES THE WIND

by Michelle Worthington ; illustrated by Joseph Cowman ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 14, 2015

An invitation to wonder, imagine and look at everything (humans included) in a new way.

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A young boy sees things a little differently than others.

Noah can see patterns in the dust when it sparkles in the sunlight. And if he puts his nose to the ground, he can smell the “green tang of the ants in the grass.” His most favorite thing of all, however, is to read. Noah has endless curiosity about how and why things work. Books open the door to those answers. But there is one question the books do not explain. When the wind comes whistling by, where does it go? Noah decides to find out. In a chase that has a slight element of danger—wind, after all, is unpredictable—Noah runs down streets, across bridges, near a highway, until the wind lifts him off his feet. Cowman’s gusty wisps show each stream of air turning a different jewel tone, swirling all around. The ribbons gently bring Noah home, setting him down under the same thinking tree where he began. Did it really happen? Worthington’s sensitive exploration leaves readers with their own set of questions and perhaps gratitude for all types of perspective. An author’s note mentions children on the autism spectrum but widens to include all who feel a little different.

An invitation to wonder, imagine and look at everything (humans included) in a new way. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: April 14, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-60554-356-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Redleaf Lane

Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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KEENA FORD AND THE FIELD TRIP MIX-UP

by Melissa Thomson and illustrated by Frank Morrison ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2009

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Keena Ford’s second-grade class is taking a field trip to the United States Capitol. This good-hearted girl works hard to behave, but her impulsive decisions have a way of backfiring, no matter how hard she tries to do the right thing. In this second book in a series, Keena cuts off one of her braids and later causes a congressman to fall down the stairs. The first-person journal format is a stretch—most second graders can barely write, let alone tell every detail of three days of her life. Children will wonder how Keena can cut one of her “two thick braids” all the way off by pretend-snipping in the air. They will be further confused because the cover art clearly shows Keena with a completely different hairdo on the field trip than the one described. Though a strong African-American heroine is most welcome in chapter books and Keena and her family are likable and realistic, this series needs more polish before Keena writes about her next month in school. (Fiction. 6-9)