One of the Grimms’ funnier and lesser-known tales receives an expansion and a new ending. When the Queen hears that Zelda, the Royal Baker’s daughter, loves to spin, she immediately promises Zelda her son’s hand in marriage if she can spin three great roomsful of flax. It sounds like a good deal—except that Zelda hates to spin, hates work of any sort. All appears to be lost, until three very peculiar fairies arrive to help; one has a grotesquely large foot, another’s tongue sticks out permanently, and the third has a bizarre, swollen thumb—all due to the fairies’ inordinate love of spinning. This offering hews quite closely to the original story, expanding somewhat to develop character and adding some contemporary dialogue (“Gross!” Zelda exclaims when the fairies offer to teach her to spin). When the fairies arrive at the girl’s wedding and are introduced as her “cousins,” the prince is so repulsed by their spinning-induced deformities that he begs his mother that his bride be relieved of all future spinning duties. The Grimms’ tale ends here, but Ernst (Sea, Sand, Me!, 2001, etc.) adds a postscript that gives her disagreeable heroine her comeuppance: the Queen, under the impression that Zelda is an industrious sort, makes her the Royal Baker, a just desert missing from the original. The pastel line-and-watercolor illustrations invest each character with great personality, from the sly and petulant Zelda to the almost simple-mindedly genial fairies. While the message that industry is its own reward is never far from the top, the general silliness keeps didacticism from the story, making it one that kids are sure to ask for a second time. (Picture book/folktale. 5-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-525-46826-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
None
One more myth dispelled for all the students who believe that their teachers live in their classrooms. During the last week of school, Mrs. Hartwell and her students reflect on the things they will miss, while also looking forward to the fun that summer will bring. The kids want to cheer up their teacher, whom they imagine will be crying over lesson plans and missing them all summer long. But what gift will cheer her up? Numerous ideas are rejected, until Eddie comes up with the perfect plan. They all cooperate to create a rhyming ode to the school year and their teacher. Love’s renderings of the children are realistic, portraying the diversity of modern-day classrooms, from dress and expression to gender and skin color. She perfectly captures the emotional trauma the students imagine their teachers will go through as they leave for the summer. Her final illustration hysterically shatters that myth, and will have every teacher cheering aloud. What a perfect end to the school year. (Picture book. 5-8)
None NonePub Date: Feb. 1, 2006
ISBN: 1-58089-046-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
