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MEANWHILE

Ignoring his mother's increasingly irritated summonses, and noting that a boxed ``meanwhile'' in his comic books always signals a change of scene, Raymond tries writing the word on his bedroom wall—and drops into an exciting pirate adventure. Forced to walk the plank, he uses the trick again, and this time he's being chased by a posse. Things begin to spiral out of control; in the next ``meanwhile,'' his spacecraft is blown apart by Martians, then he's back on the plank, then facing a cougar . . . where will it end? Excitedly, he shouts, ``THE END!'' and then hurries out of his room to do whatever his mother bids. Feiffer (A Barrel of Laughs, a Vale of Tears, 1995, etc.) uses a watercolor comic-strip style for the illustrations, which are more simply drawn than his cartoons for adults; with few large panels per page, Raymond has ample space to express pop-eyed dismay in the face of flying bullets, toothy sharks, and other menaces. Children will chortle. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 30, 1997

ISBN: 0-06-205155-5

Page Count: 32

Publisher: HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1997

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BERRY MAGIC

Sloat collaborates with Huffman, a Yu’pik storyteller, to infuse a traditional “origins” tale with the joy of creating. Hearing the old women of her village grumble that they have only tasteless crowberries for the fall feast’s akutaq—described as “Eskimo ice cream,” though the recipe at the end includes mixing in shredded fish and lard—young Anana carefully fashions three dolls, then sings and dances them to life. Away they bound, to cover the hills with cranberries, blueberries, and salmonberries. Sloat dresses her smiling figures in mixes of furs and brightly patterned garb, and sends them tumbling exuberantly through grassy tundra scenes as wildlife large and small gathers to look on. Despite obtrusively inserted pronunciations for Yu’pik words in the text, young readers will be captivated by the action, and by Anana’s infectious delight. (Picture book/folktale. 6-8)

Pub Date: June 1, 2004

ISBN: 0-88240-575-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2004

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RAPUNZEL

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

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