San Souci (The Hired Hand, p. 649, etc.) notes that this story of the love between a merman and a woman of the land first saw the light of day as a 12th-century tale. In this tinkering, Nicholas Pipe, the man from the ocean, has found acceptance in a seaside community as a handyman, and in particular for his talents in forecasting storms. He has caught the eye of Margaret, but her father, Marius, forbids their associating: The merfolk were thought to have drowned Margaret's brother long ago. Even when Nicholas informs the town about an impending squall and eventually saves both Margaret and her father, Marius repays Nicholas by turning him in to the authorities, who collect such oddities for the king. But Margaret defies Marius, follows Nicholas, and saves his life—with the help of her repentant father. It's all very bold and heroic; Shannon's acrylics add weight to the ancient tone, and in his scenes of the greedy seafolk, makes the link between the forces of nature and the folklore that the elements inspired. San Souci may be invoking an old story, but he also frames a few timeless ideas about responsibility, tolerance, and that simple thing called love. (Picture book/folklore. 5-8)
Pub Date: June 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-8037-1764-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1997
The visuals take the cake, or rather the pie, in this folksy jaunt across the country. As a follow-up to the bestselling How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World (1994), Priceman sticks with a more local focus. Here, readers take a nonsensical and roundabout journey in search of items to make a cherry pie. Hail a taxi in New York and go to “the corner of Pennsylvania and Ohio” for coal to make a pie pan, then to a cotton farm in Louisiana to make potholders, to New Mexico for clay to make a mixing bowl and so forth. Strangely, the ingredients for the actual pie are not on the shopping list, just the raw materials to make the cooking equipment. Though informational, the journey is filled with so many random distractions young readers may have a hard time sticking with it. The rustic, lush illustrations, however, are as delicious as a cherry pie right from the oven, and for readers who really want to make one, there’s a simple recipe included. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-375-81255-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2008
Floyd and Denise update “The Tortoise and the Hare” for primary readers, captioning each soft-focus, semi-rural scene with a short, simple sentence or two. Rabbit proposes running to school, while his friend Turtle takes the bus: no contest at first, as the bus makes stop after deliberate stop, but because Rabbit pauses at a pushcart for a snack, a fresh-looking Turtle greets his panting, disheveled friend on the school steps. There is no explicit moral, but children will get the point—and go on to enjoy Margery Cuyler’s longer and wilder Road Signs: A Harey Race with a Tortoise (p. 957). (Easy reader. 5-7)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-15-202679-7
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2000
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