Welcome wherever folk tales are popular.
MacDonald and the Whitmans offer an Appalachian version of “The Kind and the Unkind Girls.”
When kindly Bess is sent to fetch water from the Well-at-the-End-of-World, she politely greets the bear, mountain lion, wild boar, and three foxes she meets along the way, even washing the foxes’ faces as they request. In return they reward her. But when her ill-tempered sister, Tess, is sent, she behaves rudely; her repayment is quite different. Modern listeners may wonder if not having to go for water might not be a reward rather than a punishment, but the traditional tale is told smoothly and effectively, with a lively, folksy lilt. MacDonald and the Whitmans provide a clear explanation of their sources; they even suggest a tune for those reading aloud to use to sing Bess’ and Tess’ refrains. The text is set directly on Harvill’s stylized illustrations, mostly double-page spreads done with watercolor and cut-paper collage that use page turns effectively and show well. The animals’ facial expressions and body language reflect their reactions. Both sisters are white; Bess has curly, strawberry-blonde hair, while Tess has lank, brown hair. Endpapers with diamonds, gold coins, toads, and kernels of corn reflect the consequences of the girls’ behavior. MacDonald and the Whitmans previously collaborated on Teaching with Story (2013).
Welcome wherever folk tales are popular. (Picture book/folk tale. 4-8)Pub Date: April 15, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-945268-01-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Plum Street Publishers
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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