While they may not be the most conventional family, “The Swamp Snakes” do have their traditions. Every night, no matter what, Austin’s father tells him a story before bed; by day, the family performs in front of big crowds in small towns across the country (“Dad played fiddle, Mom sang country-western, and Austin banged the tambourine”). But when they stay in Uncle Roy’s two-story house in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, a misunderstanding rewrites the bedtime ritual in Brutschy’s (Celeste and Crabapple Sam, o.p., etc.) clever effort. In an energetic watercolor vignette, Smith (No More Nasty, 2001, etc.) portrays Austin jumping on the bed demanding two bedtime stories. “ ‘Hey, you know the rules,’ [says] Dad. ‘Just one story at bedtime.’ ” “ ‘But . . . this is a two-story house,’ ” says Austin. On the next page, the full-bleed illustration shows Austin peering down a darkened staircase while his father explains what a two-story house really means. But he indulges Austin anyway; after all, it’s not often that they spend a night away from their tiny trailer. It will be back to normal the next night. But when the family wins a fiddling contest, they decide to splurge by staying in an 11-story hotel. Young readers will easily predict the outcome: the final spread shows Austin asleep in bed with 11 story bubbles floating above his head. Brutschy makes this unusual family seem familiar; and in a welcome change of pace, Smith portrays the family with brown skin and dark hair. While it’s open to interpretation, the family appears to be Hispanic. All in all, it’s a good yarn and a nice addition to multicultural collections. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: June 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-439-31767-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
The can’t-miss subject of this Step into Reading series entry—a unicorn with a magic horn who also longs for wings—trumps its text, which is dry even by easy-reader standards. A boy unicorn, whose horn has healing powers, reveals his wish to a butterfly in a castle garden, a bluebird in the forest and a snowy white swan in a pond. Falling asleep at the edge of the sea, the unicorn is visited by a winged white mare. He heals her broken wing and she flies away. After sadly invoking his wish once more, he sees his reflection: “He had big white wings!” He flies off after the mare, because he “wanted to say, ‘Thank you.’ ” Perfectly suiting this confection, Silin-Palmer’s pictures teem with the mass market–fueled iconography of what little girls are (ostensibly) made of: rainbows, flowers, twinkly stars and, of course, manes down to there. (Easy reader. 4-7)
Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2006
ISBN: 0-375-83117-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
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