The grasslands of the Canadian west serve as a setting for this coming-of-age story from Reynolds. A parched summer means trouble for Percy’s homesteading family. His father decides to plow a fireguard around the house and Percy is eager to help, but his parents advise him to wait a couple more years to shoulder a man’s work. Then the dreaded happens, as a prairie fire advances over the horizon toward their farm. There is no time to waste; his parents man the fireguard while Percy is put in charge of dousing the spot fires set off by flying ash. This he does with responsibility and imagination, deploying a clever trick to calm his skittish horse. After the fire passes and time comes to collect the oxen from the slough, Percy is asked to help: “It’s a job for two men. Why don’t you come with me, Son?” This exciting story is realistically told; Percy indeed earns his stature, while Kilby’s illustrations allow the prairie and the wildfire each to take on a haunting presence. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 1-55143-137-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999
Greenstein (Mrs. Rose’s Garden, 1996, etc.) counts backwards through ten pastoral scenes in this bedtime read. Sequentially, each page presents an image framed in rich cobalt blue—ten houses, five fluffy white clouds, three foxes—the sum total of which is a cozy little neighborhood where, nestled safely under a quilt comprised of the same images, a little dreamer lies. The text is clean yet descriptive; readers, just for a little taste, will want to reach out and pluck one of the “Four wet peaches, ripe on stems.” With the inevitable gait toward the number one that is part of the countdown structure, this quiet book will lull sleepy children into restful slumber. The folkloric paintings in muted pastels, saved from sentiment by scratched outlines and serene composition, have a rustic appeal. (Picture book. 3-7)
Pub Date: March 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-439-06302-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2000
A tender and inspirational retelling of a magical Korean tale of goodness and sacrifice. When a young woodcutter saves a deer from a hunter, the deer offers to grant him a wish. The woodcutter wants a loving wife and family more than anything, but believes he is too poor to marry. The enchanted deer grants him a heavenly maiden of a wife and before long the happy couple is blessed with a child. But soon, homesick and seduced by the heavens, the wife and child return to life among the stars, leaving the poor woodcutter earthbound and alone. The deer takes sympathy on the woodcutter and offers him a passage to the heavens, which he gives instead to his ailing, elderly mother. The gods finally step in, reuniting the selfless man with his entire family in paradise. San Souci’s retelling is captivating, but Neilan’s vibrant use of line and emotional expressions furnish the enchantment. (Picture book/folklore. 5-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1999
ISBN: 1-56397-754-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1999
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