As enticing as a piper’s song and twice as alluring to the eye.
Dionysian excess meets its match when rats and pipers come to play.
In this Hamelin, before the onslaught of the rats, the adults revel so unceasingly (confining their children to their rooms as they do) that when the rats do invade, you couldn’t wish them on a more deserving populace. Ample attention is spent on the terror the rodents bring, until at last a piper, akin in looks to one of Tomi Ungerer’s The Three Robbers, offers his services. When he is denied payment for a job well-done, the piper returns to take the town’s children with him into the mountains. Sweetest in tone when the children are the focus, the images here are rendered entirely in evocative reds, blues, grays, and blacks. The rats are true threats, swarming and snarling, as in a beautiful silent image of them savoring a “poison as if it were candy.” Moody, dreamlike images suffuse the pages: a lavish, grotesque feast, red wine spilling from a glass like blood, the rats infesting a Christmas tree so that they look like extra baubles. Alas, there is an occasional disjoint between words and images, as when the text declares that the story is set in 1283 alongside images of the all-white cast sporting clothing best suited to the 1950s and ’60s. This just adds to the surreal feel of this accessibly gruesome Pied Piper tale.
As enticing as a piper’s song and twice as alluring to the eye. (Picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-3-89955-767-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little Gestalten
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
Trisha is ready to start at a new school, where no one will know she has dyslexia. At first, she is heartbroken to be in Miss Peterson’s special-ed class, aka, “the junkyard.” But Miss Peterson treats the children as anything but junk, showing them that everyone has a unique talent. Polacco’s trademark style is fully present here; her sensitively drawn alter ego shines with depth of feeling. When bullying occurs, Miss Peterson proves her students are worthwhile by planning a junkyard field trip, where they find valuable objects to be used in exciting ways. Trisha’s group repairs a plane, and the class buys an engine for it. Then a beloved class member dies, and the children must find a way to honor him. While the plot meanders somewhat, the characters are appealing, believable and provide a fine portrayal of a truly special class. Children will be drawn in by the story’s warmth and gentle humor and will leave with a spark of inspiration, an appreciation of individual differences and a firm anti-bullying message, all underscored by the author’s note that concludes the book. (Picture book. 7-10)
Pub Date: July 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-399-25078-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2010
Best for readers who have clearly indicated they would like to take their writing efforts to the next level.
A young white girl writes and illustrates a story, which is critiqued by the narrator as it is created.
The girl begins her story by drawing a Hero. Then she thinks maybe a Heroine would be better. Then she decides both will work. She places them in “a good town, filled with good people, called our Setting.” The narrator, an unseen editor who lurks over the artist’s shoulder, tells the storyteller she needs to put in some Conflict, make the Evil Overlord scarier, and give it better action. This tongue-in-cheek way of delivering the rules of creative writing is clever, and paired with Le Huche’s earnest, childlike illustrations, it seems to be aimed at giving helpful direction to aspiring young creators (although the illustrations are not critiqued). But the question needs to be asked: do very young writers really need to know the rules of writing as determined by adults? While the story appears to be about helping young readers learn writing—there is “A Friendly List of Words Used in this Book” at the end with such words as “protagonist” and “antagonist” (glossed as “Hero and Heroine” and “Evil Overlord,” respectively)—it also has a decidedly unhelpful whiff of judgment. Rules, the text seems to say, must be followed for the story to be a Good one. Ouch.
Best for readers who have clearly indicated they would like to take their writing efforts to the next level. (Picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-2935-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
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