In this Cajun-inflected Tom Thumb tale, pint-sized Little Pierre saves his dimwitted brothers Big Pierre, Fat Pierre, Wise Pierre, and Foolish Pierre from a Swamp Ogre, and rescues Marie Louise, a rich man’s daughter, in the bargain. While doing all the chores, Little Pierre overhears his brothers scheming and tags along as they venture into the swamp. Good thing, too: when the ogre turns out to be much bigger than expected, he leads the general rout, cleverly eluding a 12-legged alligator and convincing a monstrous mud catfish to chow down on the ogre along the way. Animal and semi-human forms crouch within foliage and gnarled bark in Catrow’s busy swampscapes as the Pierres hurry past oblivious, each (except for Little Pierre) looking more hilariously clueless than the last. The enormously fat ogre seems like an elemental creature too, a grossly ugly part of the surroundings until it slips headfirst down that catfish’s maw. Leaving the chores to his brothers, Little Pierre goes off to a well-earned happy-ever-after with Marie Louise. A hoot, fuh shore, for true. (long source note, glossary) (Picture book/folktale. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-15-202482-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Silver Whistle/Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2003
Trickling, bubbling, swirling, rushing, a river flows down from its mountain beginnings, past peaceful country and bustling city on its way to the sea. Hooper (The Drop in My Drink, 1998, etc.) artfully evokes the water’s changing character as it transforms from “milky-cold / rattling-bold” to a wide, slow “sliding past mudflats / looping through marshes” to the end of its journey. Willey, best known for illustrating Geraldine McCaughrean’s spectacular folk-tale collections, contributes finely detailed scenes crafted in shimmering, intricate blues and greens, capturing mountain’s chill, the bucolic serenity of passing pastures, and a sense of mystery in the water’s shadowy depths. Though Hooper refers to “the cans and cartons / and bits of old wood” being swept along, there’s no direct conservation agenda here (for that, see Debby Atwell’s River, 1999), just appreciation for the river’s beauty and being. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: June 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0792-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000
An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda.
Hank Zipzer, poster boy for dyslexic middle graders everywhere, stars in a new prequel series highlighting second-grade trials and triumphs.
Hank’s hopes of playing Aqua Fly, a comic-book character, in the upcoming class play founder when, despite plenty of coaching and preparation, he freezes up during tryouts. He is not particularly comforted when his sympathetic teacher adds a nonspeaking role as a bookmark to the play just for him. Following the pattern laid down in his previous appearances as an older child, he gets plenty of help and support from understanding friends (including Ashley Wong, a new apartment-house neighbor). He even manages to turn lemons into lemonade with a quick bit of improv when Nick “the Tick” McKelty, the sneering classmate who took his preferred role, blanks on his lines during the performance. As the aforementioned bully not only chokes in the clutch and gets a demeaning nickname, but is fat, boastful and eats like a pig, the authors’ sensitivity is rather one-sided. Still, Hank has a winning way of bouncing back from adversity, and like the frequent black-and-white line-and-wash drawings, the typeface is designed with easy legibility in mind.
An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-448-48239-2
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
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