Another hilariously macabre folktale from the creators of Dancing Skeleton (1989). Stumbling over a thoroughly frozen corpse in the woods, down-at-heels bagpiper Willie McPhee tries to pull off its boots, only to have both feet break off inside. When a surly farmer grudgingly allows him to sleep in the barn sometime later, Willie tucks the boots under a cow to thaw, leaves the feet and his old ragged shoes near the cow’s mouth for the farmer to find, and hides. Parker’s poker-faced, loosely drawn and brushed watercolors capture Willie’s misery as he trudges through wintry landscapes, huddles down in the sparsely furnished barn to find what comfort he can, then gravely sets up his gruesome trick. Wait, there’s more. Thinking that the cow has eaten the piper, the farmer buries the feet, and then flees in panic when he sees Willie standing on the spot piping a tune. Willie happily moves into the farmhouse, only to open the door that night to a grim looking stranger lacking boots . . . and feet. There the tale ends, but be warned: shivering delightedly, entranced readers or listeners will positively demand to know what happens next, so have some version of “Tailypo” ready as a follow-up. (Picture book/folktale. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7894-2636-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2000
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
An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda.
Hank Zipzer, poster boy for dyslexic middle graders everywhere, stars in a new prequel series highlighting second-grade trials and triumphs.
Hank’s hopes of playing Aqua Fly, a comic-book character, in the upcoming class play founder when, despite plenty of coaching and preparation, he freezes up during tryouts. He is not particularly comforted when his sympathetic teacher adds a nonspeaking role as a bookmark to the play just for him. Following the pattern laid down in his previous appearances as an older child, he gets plenty of help and support from understanding friends (including Ashley Wong, a new apartment-house neighbor). He even manages to turn lemons into lemonade with a quick bit of improv when Nick “the Tick” McKelty, the sneering classmate who took his preferred role, blanks on his lines during the performance. As the aforementioned bully not only chokes in the clutch and gets a demeaning nickname, but is fat, boastful and eats like a pig, the authors’ sensitivity is rather one-sided. Still, Hank has a winning way of bouncing back from adversity, and like the frequent black-and-white line-and-wash drawings, the typeface is designed with easy legibility in mind.
An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-448-48239-2
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
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