In a stout defense of the value of art, Giovanni literally puts the ants on trial for leaving the grasshopper out in the cold. Seeking “R.E.S.P.E.C.T.”—plus half of the defendants’ summer bounty—Jimmy Grasshopper and his team of avian lawyers bring Nestor and Abigail Ant (who have their own legal team) into a woodland courtroom presided over by Judge Oscar Owl. Both sides present compelling, eloquent, relatively lengthy arguments: on the one hand about the importance and benefits of music (standing in for all of the arts), and on the other about supposed obligations imposed by unasked-for services and the rights of workers to the fruits of their physical labors. Rendered in curling brushstrokes, Raschka’s animal figures dress and stand as humans, though they crowd so close to each other that they tend to blend into shimmering, impressionistic tableaux. Before closing with an unlikely feel-good ending the jury reaches a verdict, but readers—children too, though the author more pointedly addresses parents, politicians and school administrators—may want to continue the discussion. (Folklore. 9-11, adult)
Pub Date: May 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-7636-3021-8
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2008
SEEN & HEARD
Reports of children requesting rewrites of The Reluctant Dragon are rare at best, but this new version may be pleasing to young or adult readers less attuned to the pleasures of literary period pieces. Along with modernizing the language—“Hmf! This Beowulf fellow had a severe anger management problem”—DiTerlizzi dials down the original’s violence. The red-blooded Boy is transformed into a pacifistic bunny named Kenny, St. George is just George the badger, a retired knight who owns a bookstore, and there is no actual spearing (or, for that matter, references to the annoyed knight’s “Oriental language”) in the climactic show-fight with the friendly, crème-brulée-loving dragon Grahame. In look and spirit, the author’s finely detailed drawings of animals in human dress are more in the style of Lynn Munsinger than, for instance, Ernest Shepard or Michael Hague. They do, however, nicely reflect the bright, informal tone of the text. A readable, if denatured, rendition of a faded classic. (Fantasy. 9-11)
Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-4169-3977-1
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Baker (Big Fat Hen, 1994, etc.) engages in more number play, posing ducklings in every combination of groups, e.g., “Splashing as they leap and dive/7 ducklings, 2 plus 5.” Using a great array of streaked and dappled papers, Baker creates a series of leafy collage scenes for the noisy, exuberant ducklings to fill, tucking in an occasional ladybug or other small creature for sharp-eyed pre-readers to spot. Children will regretfully wave goodbye as the ducks fly off in neat formation at the end of this brief, painless introduction to several basic math concepts. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-292858-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
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