A bootmaker ``so poor even his shadow had holes in it'' wakes one morning to find his last piece of leather made into a pair of eye-popping, shiny new cowboy boots, bright with stars and roses. Sound familiar? Yep, it's a pair of tiny elves, and when the grateful bootmaker and his wife give them new duds to replace their patched overalls, they dance out the door, singing, ``Whoopee-ki-yi-yay, it's time to play! Yo-e-lay-eee-ooo, happy trails to you!'' As she did for Little Red Cowboy Hat (p. 302), Lowell gives the folktale a true Western spin, much abetted by the inventive Curry: Together they describe and depict each unique set of footwear in lovingly explicit detail. Like the elves, this retelling will leave readers ``just as pleased as a dog with two tails.'' (Picture book/folklore. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-531-30044-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1997
A polished, poignant retelling of a familiar legend and its worthy moral, that some things in life are worth more than their weight in gold. Greed drives King Midas when a mysterious stranger decides to grant his wish for a golden touch; too late the king realizes that everything he touches—roses, bed sheets, food, coffee, his beloved daughter—turns to cold yellow metal. By the time the stranger reappears, Midas is more than ready to return his gift. Rayyan’s illustrations create a rich, busy background for the events; harpies, sphinxes, and satyrs scurry around, while careful observers will spot Icarus plunging toward the earth at the same moment that Midas transforms his daughter, Marygold. Such wonderful details bind the art and the text with perfect alacrity, ensuring that this book will not be long on the shelves. (Picture book/folkore. 5-9)
Pub Date: March 15, 1999
ISBN: 0-8234-1423-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1999
Another woman-turned-warrior tale, this time set in Ireland. Brave adventurer Margaret longs to “learn what lay beyond the wide sea,” and seizes her first opportunity when the handsome son of a king, Simon, stumbles onto her farm. She mightily convinces him to take her aboard, and is soon felling sea serpents. This prefaces the real monster she must slay—giant who rendered her true love lifeless with the stroke of a club—but she is imprisoned by a sorceress hag who tells her that only the “champion” whose finger fits a silver ring can free the sword that will kill the giant. Margaret slips the ring on, exclaiming, “What fools we are for thinking it must be a man who slays that great, dirty giant!” With giant slain and true love returned from the dead, a wedding ensues. This story has it all: high seas, sorcery, sea serpents, the slaying of dragons, with a Maureen O’Hara—like spitfire at the heart of it all. San Souci conjures up large events and sweeps of time with a minimum of words. Comport casts Margaret as a long-necked, pale-skinned beauty with waves of red hair as fiery as her spirit. (Picture book/folklore. 5-9)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-689-81072-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
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