An elaborate expansion and transformation of the ballet, by the author of a critically acclaimed fantasy/novel for adults, A Winter's Tale (1983). Helprin goes well beyond the familiar story. His narrator—tutor/father-surrogate to the prince—tells the tragic tale to a small gift who proves to be another pivotal new character. Additions to the plot include the murder by Van Rothbart of Odette's parents and the possibility that Odile is the prince's half-sister. And though his telling has the powerful appeal of a stark fairy-tale world, Helprin sets it in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and eliminates the literal magical transformations. His language is rich, ornamented, and full of ideas and images that are difficult as well as amusing, a playful mixture of whimsy and irony probably of most interest to adults—though capable young people may also find it fascinating. Van Allsburg's 14 elegantly structured paintings, spare and luminous, extend the aura of a world of the imagination, outside time. The beautifully planned book also includes Van Allsburg's ornamental designs on every page. Sure to appeal to the carriage trade, this should also win a small following well beyond this year's fashionable popularity.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1989
ISBN: 0395646472
Page Count: -
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: April 3, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1989
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Superheroes, and readers, will live happily-ever-after.
Why have fairy tales lasted so long? Maybe it’s because they change with every teller.
It takes surprisingly little effort to turn the Three Little Pigs into superheroes. The Big Bad Wolf basically started out as a supervillain, with the ability to blow a house down, and the pigs had to perform spectacular feats to outwit him. In this picture book, the wolf, locked in the Happily Never After tower, devises a plot to escape. Using rotten eggs and spicy ginger, he creates the Gingerbread Man, who makes his way to a baking contest where the three pigs and other fairy-tale characters are competing to win the key to the city. The Gingerbread Man grabs the key, and not even superhero pigs are fast enough to catch him, but with their secret weapon—mustard (which one of the pigs also uses to bake cookies)—they save the day. The morals: Evil never triumphs, and mustard cookies are delicious. The book’s charm is in the details. There are splotches of mustard on the cookies featured on the endpapers, and a sly-looking mouse is hiding on many of the pages. The story even manages to include more than a dozen fairy-tale figures without seeming frenzied. Evans’ use of shading is so skillful that it almost seems possible to reach out and touch the characters. Most of the human characters are light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Superheroes, and readers, will live happily-ever-after. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-68221-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A nice reflection of a diverse, multihued world.
A girl walks readers through her day, introducing the many members of her diverse community in Howell’s (Shimmer, 2017) rhyming picture book with illustrations by Yang (A New Book for Jack, 2017).
A young, pale-skinned girl with red hair awakens in her room, which features a large picture of her mother, who looks just like her, and an African-American father. She listens to the local garbage trucks, then has breakfast: “Mom makes pancakes, / Morning’s cool. / Soon I’m dressed, / Ready for school.” Her brown-skinned younger sister sits in a high chair. During the day, the older girl greets her neighbors: mail carrier Juan, bus driver Mr. Lee, chef Mario at the pizza parlor, police chief Cho, teachers, librarians, and a vet and a doctor (both women). Later, the girl reveals that her father is the mayor. The book depicts a busy day with plenty for readers to see, filled with friends and family. The story is reminiscent of the Sesame Street song “The People in Your Neighborhood,” focusing on characters rather than plot; there’s no conflict but plenty of introductions to the figures who shape the girl’s world. Yang’s gentle, pastel-hued illustrations have soft edges, giving the backgrounds a painted look, and feature round-headed, large-eyed, cartoon-style characters. Howell’s steady rhymes make this an easy read-aloud.
A nice reflection of a diverse, multihued world.Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-387-02119-2
Page Count: 30
Publisher: MacLaren-Cochrane Publishing
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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