From Mayne (Pandora, 1996, etc.), the arch tale of two pigs in search of swine ambrosia—truffles. When Boark roots up a rich hoard of truffles, his mate Sowk hones in quickly on his treasure. Instead of gobbling them up immediately, the pigs put off gustatory pleasures and decide to take the mushrooms to market, and buy a coach with their earnings. On the road Sowk feels sympathy for the ``babbiest'' mushroom, and gobbles it down. Soon other truffles join the first in her belly, rather than pine away with loneliness for their relative. By the time Boark takes notice, only one big truffle remains. He assumes it (not Sowk) ate the others, so they sell it, to buy not a carriage, but a wheelbarrow. Sowk gets her ride home, and when the wheelbarrow breaks, she's perfectly happy to land in the mud. Boark never learns the truth, and croons, ``You are my Sowky, Sowk, Sowk, and all lovely with muddy, my true Lady Muck,'' as the story comes to a close. The illustrations mix softly colored scenes with robust and funny woodcuts that show the indulgent pigs' antics. But the heavily sentimental language (`` `Don't it please my Sowk, my Sowky dear, to eat a truffly from her hubby? Just one truffly?' `It please her dreadful,' said Sowk. `It please her from silk ear to scratch back' ''), though inventive, will turn off readers who have no sweet tooth for dialect. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-395-75281-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1997
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
Trickling, bubbling, swirling, rushing, a river flows down from its mountain beginnings, past peaceful country and bustling city on its way to the sea. Hooper (The Drop in My Drink, 1998, etc.) artfully evokes the water’s changing character as it transforms from “milky-cold / rattling-bold” to a wide, slow “sliding past mudflats / looping through marshes” to the end of its journey. Willey, best known for illustrating Geraldine McCaughrean’s spectacular folk-tale collections, contributes finely detailed scenes crafted in shimmering, intricate blues and greens, capturing mountain’s chill, the bucolic serenity of passing pastures, and a sense of mystery in the water’s shadowy depths. Though Hooper refers to “the cans and cartons / and bits of old wood” being swept along, there’s no direct conservation agenda here (for that, see Debby Atwell’s River, 1999), just appreciation for the river’s beauty and being. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: June 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0792-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000
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