Paterson and Brown (Marvin’s Best Christmas Present Ever, 1997, etc.) continue their easy-reader series about a sensitive boy named Marvin with this latest addition to the “I Can Read” line. This time Marvin is starting first grade—scared, lost, and ready to cry. He feels like the odd man out in many ways, or “one too many,” as his teacher inadvertently comments. The other children in first grade are sounding out words and moving on quickly (perhaps a little too quickly) to reading books, while Marvin has yet to make the connection between groups of letters and sound blends. He starts to dread school, and after a fight on the playground and some tears at home, he gets extra help with his reading at home when his big sister makes flash cards, and his father reads humorous poetry to him and recounts his own difficulties in learning to read. After practicing reading at home every night, Marvin learns to read in his own good time, blooming just like Leo. Brown’s color-pencil illustrations add a soft, old-fashioned flavor to the story, with warm details in her depiction of Marvin’s close-knit farm family. The story functions well as an intermediate-level easy reader, but first-grade teachers and reading specialists will also find this a useful read-aloud to reassure all the Marvins who need a little extra time and help. (Easy reader. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-06-028769-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2001
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A Cinderella parody features the off-the-wall, whang-dang Texas hyperbole of Ketteman (The Year of No More Corn, 1993, etc.) and the insouciance of Warhola, who proves himself only too capable of creating a fairy godcow; that she's so appealingly whimsical makes it easy to accept the classic tale's inversions. The protagonist is Bubba, appropriately downtrodden and overworked by his wicked stepdaddy and loathsome brothers Dwayne and Milton, who spend their days bossing him around. The other half of the happy couple is Miz Lurleen, who owns ``the biggest spread west of the Brazos.'' She craves male companionship to help her work the place, ``and it wouldn't hurt if he was cute as a cow's ear, either.'' There are no surprises in this version except in the hilarious way the premise plays itself out and in Warhola's delightful visual surprises. When Lurleen tracks the bootless Bubba down, ``Dwayne and Milton and their wicked daddy threw chicken fits.'' Bubba and babe, hair as big as a Texas sun, ride off to a life of happy ranching, and readers will be proud to have been along for the courtship. (Picture book/folklore. 6-8)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-590-25506-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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