Donal and his wife, Sorcha, live on the mountain high above the village of Killaloe. With the death of their beloved “boyo,” their hearts become closed, as does their door. One winter afternoon, there comes a pounding and a shouting to open the door with the plea, “You’ll not be turning a man away in a cold like this!” Hesitatingly, Sorcha lets the peddler in with the warning he must be gone when Donal arrives. Two more peddlers come and join the first. When Donal returns, he promises to guide them to Killaloe after a smoke of the pipe. As they smoke, each of the peddlers has a story to tell, each of a young boy going to Fairy Land and returning. The first is a Rip Van Winkle variant; the second returns in the moment, though it seems to the boy a long time, and the third lives a long life of a priest, but returns the same age as he left. “It’s in the coming back that the wonder lies,” says Sorcha. With the storytelling finished, Donal says they should stay the night. Sorcha and Donal stay up, telling stories to each other of their lost boyo. “Sure, that a story can unbar and unbolt a heart, that is the greatest wonder of them all.” An afterword explains that the four stories have been combined to indicate how powerful and comforting storytelling can be. The author has the Irish lilt in the writing that will afford storytellers ease in the telling. Full-page illustrations opposite the text are acrylic on canvas with a thin brown frame to give a definition to the somber pictures. They are suitable to the stories and remind the reader of the darkened, candlelit atmosphere of the cottage. These stories within a story can be enjoyed as a good read-aloud as well as for storytelling. (Folktale. 7-9)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-8050-6516-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2002
SEEN & HEARD
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
Every year since kindergarten, Harry’s Halloween costume has gotten scarier and scarier. What’s it going to be this year? He’s not telling. His classmates are all stunned when he shows up, not as some monster or a weird alien (well, not really)—but as neatly dressed Sgt. Joe Friday of Dragnet fame, wielding a notebook and out to get “just the facts, ma’am.” As she has in Harry’s 11 previous appearances (15, counting the ones his classmate Song Lee headlines), Kline (Marvin and the Mean Words, 1997, etc.) captures grammar-school atmosphere, personalities, and incidents perfectly, from snits to science projects gone hilariously wrong. She even hands Harry/Friday a chance to exercise his sleuthing abilities, with a supply of baby powder “fairy dust” gone mysteriously missing. As legions of fans have learned to expect, Harry comes through with flying colors, pinning down the remorseful culprit in 11 minutes flat. No surprises here, just reliable, child-friendly, middle-grade fare. Illustrations not seen. (Fiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-670-88864-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2000
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