Inspired by his interest in traditional creation stories, the highly respected Anaya (Farolitos for Abuelo, 1999, etc.) teams up with Caldecott medalist Diaz (Jump Rope Magic, p. 390, etc.) to present an original story explaining the existence of that most unusual Southwestern bird, the roadrunner. Anaya’s prose has the cadences of oral telling, and Diaz’s bright images with golden auras are both energetic and folk-like. The story begins with the grandly dazzling Snake, a self-proclaimed “king of the road,” who terrifies children and their parents. The Elders of the people go to Desert Woman, creator of all the desert animals, for help in controlling him. Desert Woman gives Snake a rattle (making him Rattlesnake), but that only makes him bolder and more terrifying. Then, with the help of the other animals (gifts of long legs from Deer, sharp eyes from Coyote, etc.), Desert Woman creates Roadrunner, breathing life into him and giving him the gift of dance. Finally, Desert Woman encourages the awkward Roadrunner to practice until he can dance well enough to challenge and defeat Rattlesnake. Disappointingly, the prose is often wordy and uneven, with short simple sentences (“ ‘Look at me,’ Rattlesnake said to the animals,”) alternating with the more complex (“However, instead of inhibiting Rattlesnake, the rattle only made him more threatening”). The story bogs down and goes on too long, perhaps because it is really three stories rather than one. Multiple messages about the value of cooperation and respect, the value of individual gifts, and the importance of practice may be too many and too explicit for what seems at heart to be a simple pourquoi tale. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7868-0254-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
Gooney Bird Greene (with a silent E) is not your average second grader. She arrives in Mrs. Pidgeon’s class announcing: “I’m your new student and I just moved here from China. I want a desk right smack in the middle of the room, because I like to be right smack in the middle of everything.” Everything about her is unusual and mysterious—her clothes, hairstyles, even her lunches. Since the second graders have never met anyone like Gooney Bird, they want to hear more about her. Mrs. Pidgeon has been talking to the class about what makes a good story, so it stands to reason that Gooney will get her chance. She tells a series of stories that explain her name, how she came from China on a flying carpet, how she got diamond earrings at the prince’s palace, and why she was late for school (because she was directing a symphony orchestra). And her stories are “absolutely true.” Actually, they are explainable and mesh precisely with the teacher’s lesson, more important, they are a clever device that exemplify the elements of good storytelling and writing and also demonstrate how everyone can turn everyday events into stories. Savvy teachers should take note and add this to their shelf of “how a story is made” titles. Gooney Bird’s stories are printed in larger type than the narrative and the black-and-white drawings add the right touch of sauciness (only the cover is in color). A hybrid of Harriet, Blossom, and Anastasia, irrepressible Gooney Bird is that rare bird in children’s fiction: one that instantly becomes an amusing and popular favorite. (Fiction. 6-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-618-23848-4
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Walter Lorraine/Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2002
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