A brave little mouse teams up with Brother Martin to find a way for the mice to live in harmony with the human residents of the priory. With its many hiding places, the priory is a perfect place for Juana and the rest of the mouse colony to live. They could find plenty of food in the kitchen and the pantry and could find cozy homes in the floorboards and many cupboards. Only taking as much food as they needed, the mice were able to have a happy existence, at least until Luiz joined the colony. His hunger for cheese makes it impossible for the brothers to overlook the mice and forces them to get a cat to resolve the infestation problem. The mice relocate to the linen closets to avoid the cat, but their food supply soon runs out and they survive on bits of sheets and leather. Finding the new damage that the mice have done, the Prior instructs Brother Martin to set traps and poison the mice, but Martin’s tender heart cannot allow him to hurt the mice. Juana bravely approaches Brother Martin and together they convince the rest of the colony to relocate to the barn where Brother Martin will feed and care for them. An afterword about Brother Martin identifies him as Saint Martin de Porres, a Dominican lay brother with a great affinity for helping others, including animals. Beautiful watercolor illustrations in warm earth tones with splashes of muted color depict the peaceful life in the 16th-century priory. A wonderful intersection of history and myth. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 1-56397-949-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your dreads! Isadora once again plies her hand using colorful, textured collages to depict her fourth fairy tale relocated to Africa. The narrative follows the basic story line: Taken by an evil sorceress at birth, Rapunzel is imprisoned in a tower; Rapunzel and the prince “get married” in the tower and she gets pregnant. The sorceress cuts off Rapunzel’s hair and tricks the prince, who throws himself from the tower and is blinded by thorns. The terse ending states: “The prince led Rapunzel and their twins to his kingdom, where they were received with great joy and lived happily every after.” Facial features, clothing, dreadlocks, vultures and the prince riding a zebra convey a generic African setting, but at times, the mixture of patterns and textures obfuscates the scenes. The textile and grain characteristic of the hewn art lacks the elegant romance of Zelinksy’s Caldecott version. Not a first purchase, but useful in comparing renditions to incorporate a multicultural aspect. (Picture book/fairy tale. 6-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-399-24772-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A Cinderella parody features the off-the-wall, whang-dang Texas hyperbole of Ketteman (The Year of No More Corn, 1993, etc.) and the insouciance of Warhola, who proves himself only too capable of creating a fairy godcow; that she's so appealingly whimsical makes it easy to accept the classic tale's inversions. The protagonist is Bubba, appropriately downtrodden and overworked by his wicked stepdaddy and loathsome brothers Dwayne and Milton, who spend their days bossing him around. The other half of the happy couple is Miz Lurleen, who owns ``the biggest spread west of the Brazos.'' She craves male companionship to help her work the place, ``and it wouldn't hurt if he was cute as a cow's ear, either.'' There are no surprises in this version except in the hilarious way the premise plays itself out and in Warhola's delightful visual surprises. When Lurleen tracks the bootless Bubba down, ``Dwayne and Milton and their wicked daddy threw chicken fits.'' Bubba and babe, hair as big as a Texas sun, ride off to a life of happy ranching, and readers will be proud to have been along for the courtship. (Picture book/folklore. 6-8)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-590-25506-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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