Spier's love of history again combines with his love of transport (The Erie Canal, 1970, among many), now in a fictionalization of the development of the Royal Netherlands Rescue Society (KNRM). In parallel stories set 300 years apart, a Dutch boy spots a ship in distress and raises the alarm; each time, the boy's father is skipper of the volunteer rescue crew, but only in the 20th century is the boy allowed to go along. The incredibly numerous, often humorous minutia in Spier's deceptively casual pictures contrast the periods in fascinating detail. In the later story, the village has grown, but the same church, windmill, and lighthouse remain (though the latter bristles with communications gear); even the rabbits that peep from behind a dune are the same. Descendants of the 17th-century crew have their forebears' names and faces and follow similar trades (blacksmith/garage owner, clogmaker/shoestore owner); a farmhouse is hardly changed (save for a satellite dish where the privy used to be). Most important, the selfless spirit of the rescuers has endured. Map of the treacherous coast; diagrams of the modern lifeboat; brief history of the KNRM. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-385-30935-X
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1993
Sloat collaborates with Huffman, a Yu’pik storyteller, to infuse a traditional “origins” tale with the joy of creating. Hearing the old women of her village grumble that they have only tasteless crowberries for the fall feast’s akutaq—described as “Eskimo ice cream,” though the recipe at the end includes mixing in shredded fish and lard—young Anana carefully fashions three dolls, then sings and dances them to life. Away they bound, to cover the hills with cranberries, blueberries, and salmonberries. Sloat dresses her smiling figures in mixes of furs and brightly patterned garb, and sends them tumbling exuberantly through grassy tundra scenes as wildlife large and small gathers to look on. Despite obtrusively inserted pronunciations for Yu’pik words in the text, young readers will be captivated by the action, and by Anana’s infectious delight. (Picture book/folktale. 6-8)
Pub Date: June 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-88240-575-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2004
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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