Two simply retold Passamaquoddy tales (``The Rough-face Girl'' plus one about a conceited grouse whose round canoe spins into a whirlpool) are set in an elaborate longer tale about a bear who's about to hibernate when he's lured away by the Great Magic Hare, Mahtoqehs—who leads the still-hungry Muwin to a campfire where a hunter offers him ``stew of snowshoe hare'' and tells him a story; next morning, all has vanished. That evening, an old woman offers Muwin ``hare soup'' and tells him another story; she, too, vanishes before dawn. Eventually, a boy in a canoe—yet another embodiment of Mahtoqehs—takes sleepy Muwin back to his den. The narrative, in trying to incorporate several tales, seems a little contrived and doesn't provide much motive for the journey. Still, the bear's adventures are mildly intriguing; the Shetterleys show respect for their sources in a note; and the vibrant acrylics, enhanced with dramatic shadows, nicely evoke the Maine landscape (the animals are especially appealing). (Folklore/Picture book. 5-10)
Pub Date: March 31, 1993
ISBN: 0-689-31699-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1993
Trickling, bubbling, swirling, rushing, a river flows down from its mountain beginnings, past peaceful country and bustling city on its way to the sea. Hooper (The Drop in My Drink, 1998, etc.) artfully evokes the water’s changing character as it transforms from “milky-cold / rattling-bold” to a wide, slow “sliding past mudflats / looping through marshes” to the end of its journey. Willey, best known for illustrating Geraldine McCaughrean’s spectacular folk-tale collections, contributes finely detailed scenes crafted in shimmering, intricate blues and greens, capturing mountain’s chill, the bucolic serenity of passing pastures, and a sense of mystery in the water’s shadowy depths. Though Hooper refers to “the cans and cartons / and bits of old wood” being swept along, there’s no direct conservation agenda here (for that, see Debby Atwell’s River, 1999), just appreciation for the river’s beauty and being. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: June 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0792-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000
Steig (Toby, Where Are You?, 1997, etc.), inspired by a game he used to play with his daughter, turns a rainy day into a pizza party, starring a caring father and his feeling-blue son, Pete. Just when Pete was set to go play ball with his friends, it starts to rain. His melancholy is not lost on his father: “He thinks it might cheer Pete up to be made into a pizza.” Which is just what the father proceeds to do. Pete is transported to the kitchen table where he is kneaded and stretched, tossed into the air for shaping, sprinkled with oil and flour and tomatoes and cheese (water, talcum, checkers, and bits of paper). He then gets baked on the living room couch and tickled and chased until the sun comes out and it is time to speed outside, a pizza no more, but happy. What leaps from the page, with a dancer’s grace, is the warmth and imagination wrapped in an act of kindness and tuned- in parenting. As always, Steig’s illustrations are a natural—an organic—part of the story, whether Pete’s a pizza, or not. (Picture book. 5-10)
Pub Date: Oct. 31, 1998
ISBN: 0-06-205157-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1998
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