It’s clever—but it won’t win Bruegel new fans or encourage repeat visits.
A man and his canine emerge from a painting and race through some of their creator’s canvases before “returning home.”
In this wordless picture book imported from Belgium, children can follow the titular characters, two figures from Hunters in the Snow by Flemish Renaissance artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder. On each two-page spread, the illustrator playfully reinterprets Bruegel’s works by combining details from one or more paintings, creatively introducing youngsters to the artist’s oeuvre. Additionally, kids are challenged, Where’s Waldo?–style, to locate man and animal with every page turn. Pursuing a bird, the pair kick things off by escaping their picture through a large tear, reentering it after numerous adventures. There’s some fun to be had here, though kids are less likely to appreciate Bruegel than they are merely to seek hunter and dog and the ways they slip from one canvas into another. Missteps: Because illustrations include combined elements from various works, spreads aren’t labeled. Therefore, it’s difficult to name the paintings man and dog enter and exit. Specific artworks are identified via small details from the originals (alongside titles, dates, and owning museums) in the backmatter and are occasionally hard to discern. Those curious about which paintings man and animal visit must flip between spreads and “answers” in the back. The informative author’s note targets older readers.
It’s clever—but it won’t win Bruegel new fans or encourage repeat visits. (bibliography) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5534-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
A robust lead-in to Cheryl Harness’ They’re Off! (2002) and other more detailed histories.
Horses and rider tackle time, distance, and the elements in this tribute to a legendary Pony Express gallop.
As Rose freely admits, “legendary” may be just the word for Cody’s claim to have been a Pony Express rider. Nonetheless, in galloping rhyme she sends him on his way across Wyoming and back in a dawn-to-dawn dash that Lillington illustrates with scenes of the teenager pounding along past buttes and buffalo, through heavy rain, beneath orange and star-speckled skies in turn. It’s a horsey sort of episode, as both words and pictures specify breeds or types with each change of mount along the trail: “Trade a Mustang for a Morgan, / ’Loosa for a Thoroughbred. / Racing, flying, / ever riding, / hurry, hurry on ahead.” A double-page spread that presents eight separate vignettes of Cody on eight different horses as the sky darkens provides effective visual counterpoint to the verse. A final view of the horse and rider wearily finishing their long route as the sun begins to rise once again gives way to a painted portrait of the grown Buffalo Bill resplendent in his buckskins. The author fills in the historical details in an afterword with period illustrations. Human figures in all the pictures are white.
A robust lead-in to Cheryl Harness’ They’re Off! (2002) and other more detailed histories. (afterword) (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8075-7068-5
Page Count: 37
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
Genuinely whimsical.
Three adventures of the gentlemanly Irish pig Pigín.
In “Pigs Can’t Fly, but They Can Swim,” Pigín gets a swimming lesson from Sammy the seal and his friends. Of course, he sends the seals a thank-you note (so much nicer than a text, he feels), ending the day at the cozy cottage of his friend Nanakit, a white human. “Pigín’s Magical Midnight Adventure” begins with an unexpected call from the Fairy Queen, who has made Pigín a new Dublin jersey. (The old one “was a bit worn.”) This is serendipity, since Pigín and his pal, Badger of Ballsbridge, are going to see the Dubs at their training session. They take a DART train and a bus to get there, cheering on both the football and the hurling teams. After a stop at the local school to watch the children practice with their violins, the day ends with a magical fairy evening. In “A Day to Wear a Top Hat,” Pigín attends the Dublin Horse Show and even meets the president of Ireland, but that’s after a delightful morning of wallowing in the mud. Pigín possesses a winning combination of decorum and joie de vivre, a great role model. Suggs’ illustrations have a suggestion of Beatrix Potter, small and intricate, enhancing the generous text, which is amply surrounded by white space. Irish readers will delight in the regional specificity, while others will come away with a sense of a very distinct culture.
Genuinely whimsical. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7171-6972-6
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Gill Books/Dufour Editions
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
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