For those wondering exactly what “saving for a rainy day” means, Mitchell has a swell story that explains it all. Eb Overall lived in a shack above the town of Dry Gulch. It was Eb’s way to horde things: piles of lumber and barrels of nails, stacks of shingles and tarpaper—even the nuggets of gold he found prospecting, but he didn’t tell anyone about those. When his friends asked about all the stuff, Eb noted he was saving it for a rainy day. However, rain was in short supply in Dry Gulch, hence the name. Then one day, sure as the water cycle, came the deluge. The rain quickly became torrents in the once-dry streambeds—“gullywashers,” as they are known in the Southwest—and Dry Gulch got drenched and demolished. Those gullywashers had a gift though, all of Eb’s stashed goods, carried down on the flood and quickly put to good use rebuilding the town. Those gold nuggets, too, would make life a lot easier for the townsfolk. Moreover, Eb, generous to the end, gave it all to the citizens of Dry Gulch. He’d been saving it for a rainy day: “You never know what will happen.” Just so. Chartier’s grand, overstuffed art gives Eb the mythic dimension he deserves, yet best of all is knowing that packrats of the world may rejoice—Eb “You Never Know When It Will Come In Handy” Overall is your vindication, and his willingness to share his goods makes him a shining example. This would go nicely with George Ella Lyon’s Come a Tide (1990) (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2002
ISBN: 1-56397-123-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A validating and breathtaking next chapter of a Mother Goose favorite.
Humpty Dumpty, classically portrayed as an egg, recounts what happened after he fell off the wall in Santat’s latest.
An avid ornithophile, Humpty had loved being atop a high wall to be close to the birds, but after his fall and reassembly by the king’s men, high places—even his lofted bed—become intolerable. As he puts it, “There were some parts that couldn’t be healed with bandages and glue.” Although fear bars Humpty from many of his passions, it is the birds he misses the most, and he painstakingly builds (after several papercut-punctuated attempts) a beautiful paper plane to fly among them. But when the plane lands on the very wall Humpty has so doggedly been avoiding, he faces the choice of continuing to follow his fear or to break free of it, which he does, going from cracked egg to powerful flight in a sequence of stunning spreads. Santat applies his considerable talent for intertwining visual and textual, whimsy and gravity to his consideration of trauma and the oft-overlooked importance of self-determined recovery. While this newest addition to Santat’s successes will inevitably (and deservedly) be lauded, younger readers may not notice the de-emphasis of an equally important part of recovery: that it is not compulsory—it is OK not to be OK.
A validating and breathtaking next chapter of a Mother Goose favorite. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62672-682-6
Page Count: 45
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A book that will make young dog-owners smile in recognition and confirm dogless readers' worst suspicions about the mayhem caused by pets, even winsome ones. Sam, who bears passing resemblance to an affable golden retriever, is praised for fetching the family newspaper, and goes on to fetch every other newspaper on the block. In the next story, only the children love Sam's swimming; he is yelled at by lifeguards and fishermen alike when he splashes through every watering hole he can find. Finally, there is woe to the entire family when Sam is bored and lonely for one long night. Boland has an essential message, captured in both both story and illustrations of this Easy-to-Read: Kids and dogs belong together, especially when it's a fun-loving canine like Sam. An appealing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-8037-1530-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996
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