Thomas polishes up nine anecdotes and pourquoi tales collected by Hurston, but only recently rediscovered (along with hundreds more) and published in a collection for adults. Originally transcribed in dialect, their regional flavor has been toned down, but not completely erased: when Porpoise outraces the Sun, for instance, God says, “Aw, no, this ain’t gonna do!” and fixes Porpoise’s tail “on crossways.” Sandwiched between not-quite-identical versions of “Why the Buzzard Has No Home,” these short tales of rivalry (“Why the Dog Hates the Cat”), friendship (“Why the Frog Got Eyes and Mole Got Tail”), and troubles explained (“Why Flies Get the First Taste”) will appeal to readers and tellers alike for their simplicity, humor, and action. To all of this, Collier adds an unexpected, but not overdone, layer of visual complexity with painted collages in which easily recognizable animals and background features, abstract forms, and swirls of color coexist. Younger audiences might not know Hurston as a folklorist; here’s help for that, in an inviting mix of tales and familiar ones made fresh. (Folk tales. 7-10)
Pub Date: April 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-06-000643-9
Page Count: 42
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Sept. 26, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2004
Hits the sweet spot between chortles and choked screams.
Ten monsters from myth and legend take a bow—each furnished with competitive scores in five monstrous characteristics and a portrait in full, lurid melodramaticolor.
Arranged 10th to first on a cumulated “Beast Power” rating based on Strength, Repulsiveness, Special Powers, Ferocity, and Invincibility, each creature except the glowering Echidna (who resembles Patti Smith in a giant snake outfit) is posed in Chilvers’ painted scenes looming out of mist or wave, stupendous dentifrice on full display, in the midst of a ferocious attack. Peebles begins each profile with a perfunctory scenario (“A cloud of fear hung over the village. For months an Oni had been lurking by the village gates…”). She then explains how each monster was or might be defeated and identifies the culture or a literary work with which it is associated. Following a recapitulative “Rogues’ Gallery,” she closes with notes on related subjects, such as the dragon Fafnir’s cursed golden ring. Readers will find this bestiary thrilling edutainment, though they are sure to wonder how the Balinese Leyak, which are “disembodied heads propelled by the pulsating movement of their own entrails,” only come in as No. 9. The co-published Giants and Trolls (a third new volume in the series, Mighty Mutants, was not seen) offers similar draws, though Cuchulain is an odd choice for inclusion.
Hits the sweet spot between chortles and choked screams. (Nonfiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4677-6341-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Hungry Tomato/Lerner
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2015
Marred by its own contrivances.
Barretta adopts a familiar narrative device, contrasting the lives—separated by a century—of presidents Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy.
On facing pages and within spreads, he presents similarities in the two men’s lives—some monumental, others mere oddities. Poignantly, the Lincoln and Kennedy families each lost two children, one before and one during their lives in the White House. Barretta portrays each man’s relationship to civil rights, collating Lincoln’s successful 1860 election with the new Republican Party’s opposition to slavery. The ensuing Civil War weighed heavily: “Lincoln agonized over the casualties on both sides of the battlefield. In his eyes, every soldier was still an American.” In 1863, Lincoln met successfully with Frederick Douglass, previously his critic. In 1963, Kennedy proposed new civil rights legislation, met with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and declared that the descendants of slaves were not fully free. The nation would “not be fully free until all its citizens are free.” Barretta’s full-bleed watercolors caricature both people and events. Two maps with keys—one depicting slave and free states, the other, the Soviet Union and communist countries (all unnamed)—are weak elements. The jumpy, back-and-forth format renders the achievements and complexities of each man less intelligible then a linear presentation would, and the assassinations are trivialized by a bulleted list of coincidences.
Marred by its own contrivances. (further facts, trivia, unsourced quotes, glossary, sources) (Informational picture book. 7-10)Pub Date: June 14, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8050-9945-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2016
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