Embarrassed by misbehaving feet that prefer boots or slippers to sedate, queenly shoes, insist on wandering off during boring official events and act up outrageously on the dance floor, Queen Daisy calls in all “sages, wise women, wizards, fairy godmothers and, of course, footmen” for advice. Petricic keeps the focus on the footplay by portraying Daisy from knees down only until the last few cartoon scenes, her wayward tootsies usually facing different directions or flashing colorfully painted toenails. Ending in a compromise, in which the royal feet will mind their manners most of the time in exchange for a daily free hour and an occasional rub from Prince Fred, this episode is plainly intended to be a domestic problem-solver—but the overlaid plot supplies sufficient humor and misdirection to make the strategy persuasive. Required reading for all unruly little kickers, stompers, squirmers and scuffers. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: April 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-88995-320-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Red Deer Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006
The tales of Wilhelm Hauff (18021827)—almost unknown in the U.S.—belong on every child's shelf. Shepard retells ``The Caliph Stork,'' a stylized imitation of the Arabian Nights that has become a part of Middle Eastern folklore. A merchant sells the Calif[sic] of Baghdad a magic snuffbox, which contains a powder that transforms him and his vizier into storks. But the magic word that is to turn them back into humans has no effect, and they find themselves trapped in their new forms. Wandering through the woods, the two storks meet a woodpecker who tells them that she is a princess put under the spell by a sorcerer. When they follow her to the sorcerer's hide-out, they discover that he is none other than the merchant who sold them the snuffbox. They overhear him bragging about his trick, whereupon he reveals the real magic word that will transform them. The Gothic overtones of Hauff's KunstmÑrchen have been removed in Shepard's simplified version (for example, in the original, the storks more tragically forget the magic word), but the story still works. In his first work, Dianov, with rich, ornately three- dimensional watercolors, displays his sensitivity to the oriental charms of the tale, paying as much attention to the details of costume and architecture as to the characters themselves. Everything has a cartoon-like plasticity, or unrealness; his colorful pictures, full of beards, turbans, and minarets, look as if they were made out of candy. (Picture book/folklore. 5-7)
Pub Date: April 24, 1995
ISBN: 0-395-65377-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1995
Poor Ima Bean! She doesn't mean to break Grandpa's fishing pole, send Hester the mule galloping through Mama Lima Bean's wash, wreck Brother Chili Bean's bicycle, or scatter a whole truckload of apples—each calamity just naturally follows on the heels of the last. Begining with a serene view of Mossyrock Creek, Lloyd builds the chaos in successive scenes until, with ``cabbages and carrots and `taters and `maters flying every whichaway,'' Ima bails out, packs a bag, and trudges dejectedly off in search of a new home. ``But wouldn't ya know!...in my family, you're always family...even when you goof!'' Instead of exile, Ima is last seen receiving hugs and comfort. In this comical, reassuring tale, Lloyd's precise lines and clean colors make even the wildest mishaps look curiously tidy. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: March 15, 1994
ISBN: 0-8234-1070-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1994
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