The author-illustrator of The Golden Mare, the Firebird, and the Magic Ring (2001) works her particular beguilement over Cinderella, using the Perrault story with elements from the Grimms. When Cinderella’s nasty stepsisters request expensive gifts from their father, Cinderella asks only for a twig, which she plants next to her mother’s favorite rose bush. A hazel tree grows and a white bird with a beautiful song inhabits it, easing Cinderella’s loneliness. When the prince announces the ball, and Cinderella begs to go, her stepmother flings a bowl of lentils into the fireplace and says she can go if she can pick up every lentil in two hours. It is the birds who come to help Cinderella in this task, but of course, the stepmother refuses anyway. Later, the white bird is gone, but a white-winged fairy godmother under the hazel tree transforms Cinderella into a golden-gowned princess. Although the stepsisters beg for and receive Cinderella’s forgiveness in the end, the birds do not permit them to leave their old house, but keep them imprisoned there while Cinderella and her prince live happily ever after. Eighteenth-century gowns and furnishings adorn this story, and Sanderson makes use of a silvery swath of fairy light to entwine Cinderella’s gown and the enchanted coach. A Cinderella for Sanderson fans. (Picture book/fairy tale. 5-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-316-77965-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2002
On his first day at the Academy for Boys and Ghouls, Little Dracula's initial hesitancy dissolves after he meets the horrible creatures in his class, takes simple lessons in geography (``New Vampshire''), nature study (the difference between garlic and peasants is that garlic is ``bad to bite''), and plays a game of hearts (not with cards) at Playtime. After a peaceful nap, Igor arrives to take him home in the slave-powered family carriage. Wright's busy cartoon illustrations will have younger readers— and their parents—howling (with glee) as they watch the green- skinned ``ghoulboy'' counting werewolves to get to sleep, looking anxiously at his rather animated lunch, and being put to bed the next morning by his doting parents. A First-Day-of-School with a difference. Also available: Little Dracula at the Seashore; both were originally published in Britain in 1987. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: March 5, 1992
ISBN: 1-56402-027-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Like Lewin's When the Rivers Go Home (below), an evocation of the creatures of a tropical swamp. Here, the team that created Cactus Hotel (1991) focuses on two mothers, a spoonbill and an alligator, each caring for her young during a day that includes a mildly dramatic encounter when the alligator doesn't quite catch the spoonbill. Lloyd depicts the animals in lucid detail and their surroundings, more impressionistically, in unrealistically vibrant but appealing colors. A note extends the information, but is vague about the animals' range. Though this doesn't have the artistry of Lewin's book, it's visually pleasing and includes more information about these particular species. (Nonfiction/Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: March 30, 1992
ISBN: 0-8050-1583-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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