Mollel (Kitoto the Mighty, 1998, etc.) skillfully reshapes this African tale about a magical bird that defeats a cow-stealing monster. Mariamu’s family can’t understand why their cattle are disappearing. One day, when clearing a field to grow food, Mariamu hears a magical bird singing. The bird tells her if she will spare the land (and the bird’s eggs), the bird will help restore milk to Mariamu’s family. Mariamu agrees, and the magical bird brings back the original field, and fills all the jugs and gourds with milk. Then Mariamu’s parents get greedy, capturing the bird while visions of an endless milk supply dance in their heads. Mariamu, of course, rescues the bird, and it is so grateful that it leads the girl to the monster who has stolen all the cows; together they rescue the cattle. Mollel includes words in Swahili and some excellent sound effects: “birim” for the sound of empty gourds rolling, “gulum” for the sound of swallowing. This fleshing out of the old tale and Litzinger’s spry, expressive watercolors make a vibrant presentation, ideal for noisy story-hour reenactment. (Picture book/folklore. 5-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 22, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-82908-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1999
This short tour of the jungle from Banks (And If the Moon Could Talk, 1998, etc.) and Bogacki (The Story of a Blue Bird, 1998, etc.) features so many rebuses that it is more of a puzzle than a picture book, but a fun one at that. Bird, Monkey, and Snake—a mildly contentious lot—have their treehouse washed out from under them in a storm. They set off into the great and deep greenery in search of a new abode, with visions of ideal trees dancing in their heads. Utopia they do not find; rather, they find themselves in a series of scary encounters with giant spiders, snapping crocodiles, rude squirrels, and menacing tigers. To their credit, they come to each other’s aid, lending courage and fortitude without fanfare. They do come upon a new tree home, and though a little green frog occupies it, he welcomes them. When their personal quirks again manifest themselves, they are accepted as part of the price of community. Banks keeps the story nimble, never peddling her points with too much fervor. Bogacki, in dappled and deep jungle hues, has fractured abstract images all over the page, giving an impression of the background but endowing the inhabitants with simple, clean forms. A neat cipher of the rebus symbols appears in the border of every spread. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: March 18, 1999
ISBN: 0-374-30729-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
A deliberate sense of the absurd infuses Kirk’s story of a boy and his dog with great humor and appeal. Young Willy Joe Jehosephat loves gazing at the moon through his telescope, but his parents want him to have a real playmate, a dog. Willy readily agrees—to a moondog, “the perfect pet for me./I watch them through my telescope./They’re real, I guarantee!” After Willy builds a spaceship and is on his way to the Moon, he discovers a stowaway on board, a scrappy Earth mutt that Willy intends to leave in the care of the moondogs after he has made his selection. Once on the moon, Willy establishes contact with an enormous pack of moondogs, but also with a hideous moon man, who threatens to eat Willy. While the moondogs quake and quiver, the Earth mutt gives the moon man a good nip and sends him running. That’s the dog for Willy. Questions of loyalty are obviously raised here, but Kirk’s story allows for the pleasures of the here-and-now as well as acknowledging the dreams attached to distant stars. As always, the palette is robust and retro, with images that are invitingly participatory. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-399-23128-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
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