Ivan the Terrible has a handsome young archer named Dimitri. Against his magic horse's advice, Dimitri brings the Czar a feather from the Firebird, but the ungrateful Ivan demands that Dimitri fetch him the entire bird. With the help of his horse, Dimitri does so. The Czar then orders him to go to the Land of Never and bring him the fairy princess Vassilissa for him to marry. The horse is pessimistic, but Dimitri obeys. Vassilissa falls for the young archer and stalls. She asks that Dimitri go again to the Land of Never to retrieve her wedding gown. When Dimitri returns with the dress, Vassilissa stalls again. She says she will not be married until Dimitri jumps into a pot of boiling water. Dimitri's horse advises him to do it, and Vassilissa sprinkles magic dust into the pot so that when Dimitri leaps in he is turned into a handsome prince. The ugly old Czar tries the same thing, but he just dies. Everyone else lives happily ever after, which makes the horse's dire warnings a mystery. Demi's (Demi's Dragons and Fantastic Creatures, 1993, etc.) adaptation of this folktale lacks luster, despite all its gilding. (Folklore/Picture book. 6-10)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-8050-3244-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1994
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81175-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
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