Johnston (The Ghost of Nicholas Greebe, p. 824, etc.) portrays the evils of slavery through the sufferings of a boy born a slave because his skin is the color of ``smooth, dark wood.'' The boy grows up under ``the whish of the lash''—he cried at the near- fatal beating of an old man and was himself whipped, and then ``striped good'' for a desperate act of vandalism. The boy's father, a carpenter and mule driver, builds ``a good wagon of smooth, dark wood'' for the casually cruel master and eventually, with mules Swing and Low, the wagon becomes their chariot bearing the family away to freedom following the war and Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. ``Fast as a snakebit wind,'' they learn of Lincoln's assassination and set out to pay their last respects. Ransome's paintings give life to the characters and bring out the luster of the surroundings; the story is ardent and somber, a piercing lament. (Picture book. 5-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-688-13457-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1996
Fans both young and formerly young will be pleased—100 percent.
Published in magazines, never seen since / Now resurrected for pleasure intense / Versified episodes numbering four / Featuring Marco, and Horton and more!
All of the entries in this follow-up to The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories (2011) involve a certain amount of sharp dealing. Horton carries a Kwuggerbug through crocodile-infested waters and up a steep mountain because “a deal is a deal”—and then is cheated out of his promised share of delicious Beezlenuts. Officer Pat heads off escalating, imagined disasters on Mulberry Street by clubbing a pesky gnat. Marco (originally met on that same Mulberry Street) concocts a baroque excuse for being late to school. In the closer, a smooth-talking Grinch (not the green sort) sells a gullible Hoobub a piece of string. In a lively introduction, uber-fan Charles D. Cohen (The Seuss, The Whole Seuss, and Nothing but the Seuss, 2002) provides publishing histories, places characters and settings in Seussian context, and offers insights into, for instance, the origin of “Grinch.” Along with predictably engaging wordplay—“He climbed. He grew dizzy. His ankles grew numb. / But he climbed and he climbed and he clum and he clum”—each tale features bright, crisply reproduced renditions of its original illustrations. Except for “The Hoobub and the Grinch,” which has been jammed into a single spread, the verses and pictures are laid out in spacious, visually appealing ways.
Fans both young and formerly young will be pleased—100 percent. (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-385-38298-4
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PLB 0-688-13383-5 In the heightened language and measured cadence of a classic hero’s tale, Mayer (Turandot, 1995, etc.) relates the story of the winged horse Pegasus and the brave Bellerophon. The fair young man is sent to subdue the monster Chimera, who devours people and lays waste to the lands. He learns he can only hope to defeat the monster if he can convince the magical flying horse to carry him into battle. Bellerophon meets Pegasus at a sacred spring, and the goddess Athena reminds him in a dream that the bridle of trust will hold him and his steed together as equals. Defeating the Chimera in a wild battle, he marries a princess and rules with her, but seeks Pegasus throughout his life. Craft’s oil on watercolor paintings are splendid foils for this text. She uses chiaroscuro to powerful effect, and every detail of her work—the flowers by a spring, a red cloak unfurled against a blue sky, moonlight on a tiger’s back—is beautifully rendered. She provides echoes of well-known paintings in her illustrations, and each has a border of motifs taken from ancient goldwork. Pegasus is a true vision—Craft revivifies the now-debased winged-horse image—and the Chimera is quite terrifying. Children hungry for heroes will find this robust fare for their imaginations. (Picture book/folklore. 6-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-688-13382-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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