A witty, imaginative takeoff on ``The Gingerbread Boy'': floating in brine in a huge jar, the last pickle's already hard to corner before he scrambles out. As the truant runs down the street, other foods follow—a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich (``not the fastest sandwich in the world, but it does have great endurance''), a pretzel scattering sesame seeds, an apple, a crowd of raisins and almonds, an ice-cream cone—crying, ``Stop that pickle!'' until the pickle bumps into a boy. ``Eat him!'' shout the pursuers, but the boy has a better idea: ignoring the tearful pickle, he eats the rest of the food, and ``Who ever heard of eating a pickle after ice cream?'' Shachat's caricatures—especially of the bug-eyed pickle—are hilarious; they're set in lively, skillfully composed illustrations with sly comic touches and a surreal quality recalling Henrik Drescher's and Lane Smith's work. Sophisticated art, in a funny book with broad appeal. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-395-66375-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1993
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your dreads! Isadora once again plies her hand using colorful, textured collages to depict her fourth fairy tale relocated to Africa. The narrative follows the basic story line: Taken by an evil sorceress at birth, Rapunzel is imprisoned in a tower; Rapunzel and the prince “get married” in the tower and she gets pregnant. The sorceress cuts off Rapunzel’s hair and tricks the prince, who throws himself from the tower and is blinded by thorns. The terse ending states: “The prince led Rapunzel and their twins to his kingdom, where they were received with great joy and lived happily every after.” Facial features, clothing, dreadlocks, vultures and the prince riding a zebra convey a generic African setting, but at times, the mixture of patterns and textures obfuscates the scenes. The textile and grain characteristic of the hewn art lacks the elegant romance of Zelinksy’s Caldecott version. Not a first purchase, but useful in comparing renditions to incorporate a multicultural aspect. (Picture book/fairy tale. 6-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-399-24772-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Sitting on his stoop near the end of a tidy block of row houses, Max seizes on a couple of sticks that blow from a tree and begins tapping: on his own thighs; on the bottom of Grandpa's window-washing bucket; on a hatbox his mother brings home, bottles, a garbage can. Unobtrusively, Pinkney slips in new information about Max's family in each spread, as the boy experiments creatively with what's at hand, imitates rhythms he hears (``the sound of pigeons, startled into flight,'' church bells, the wheels of the train where his father's a conductor). In a satisfying conclusion, the drummer in a passing band tosses Max his extra drumsticks. Pinkney's scratchboard illustrations, designed with a sure hand and overlaid with rich, subtle shades of sky blue, leaf green, and brick applied in free, painterly strokes, are superb; they vividly convey the imagination and vitality of this budding young musician. A perfect marriage of idea and art. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-671-78776-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1994
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