WHAT IS A WISE BIRD LIKE YOU DOING IN A SILLY TALE LIKE THIS?
by Uri Shulevitz & illustrated by Uri Shulevitz
The much-honored Shulevitz (Snow, 1998, etc.) presents a glorious farrago of good sense and nonsense woven through several linked trickster tales. He matches a hard-to-summarize array of stories-within-stories to scenes of richly dressed noodleheads flying through the air or tottering about unstable-looking landscapes while sporting tall, silly hats and confused expressions. Subjects involve a glib-talking bird who repeatedly escapes captivity; the greedy Emperor of Pickleberry (Pop. 26 ½); his twin brother, who is also the palace janitor; a certain candlestick; a bear in a barrel; and much, much more. Though the general atmosphere is distinctly Chelmish—Shulevitz adapts stories learned from his mother for parts of this—beneath all the loopy logic and kaleidoscopic plotting is a pointed celebration of the triumph of wit over power. Nonetheless, readers who prefer tidy beginning-middle-end tales with clear lessons had best steer clear. (Picture book. 7-9)