PLB 0-688-13383-5 In the heightened language and measured cadence of a classic hero’s tale, Mayer (Turandot, 1995, etc.) relates the story of the winged horse Pegasus and the brave Bellerophon. The fair young man is sent to subdue the monster Chimera, who devours people and lays waste to the lands. He learns he can only hope to defeat the monster if he can convince the magical flying horse to carry him into battle. Bellerophon meets Pegasus at a sacred spring, and the goddess Athena reminds him in a dream that the bridle of trust will hold him and his steed together as equals. Defeating the Chimera in a wild battle, he marries a princess and rules with her, but seeks Pegasus throughout his life. Craft’s oil on watercolor paintings are splendid foils for this text. She uses chiaroscuro to powerful effect, and every detail of her work—the flowers by a spring, a red cloak unfurled against a blue sky, moonlight on a tiger’s back—is beautifully rendered. She provides echoes of well-known paintings in her illustrations, and each has a border of motifs taken from ancient goldwork. Pegasus is a true vision—Craft revivifies the now-debased winged-horse image—and the Chimera is quite terrifying. Children hungry for heroes will find this robust fare for their imaginations. (Picture book/folklore. 6-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-688-13382-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Gooney Bird Greene (with a silent E) is not your average second grader. She arrives in Mrs. Pidgeon’s class announcing: “I’m your new student and I just moved here from China. I want a desk right smack in the middle of the room, because I like to be right smack in the middle of everything.” Everything about her is unusual and mysterious—her clothes, hairstyles, even her lunches. Since the second graders have never met anyone like Gooney Bird, they want to hear more about her. Mrs. Pidgeon has been talking to the class about what makes a good story, so it stands to reason that Gooney will get her chance. She tells a series of stories that explain her name, how she came from China on a flying carpet, how she got diamond earrings at the prince’s palace, and why she was late for school (because she was directing a symphony orchestra). And her stories are “absolutely true.” Actually, they are explainable and mesh precisely with the teacher’s lesson, more important, they are a clever device that exemplify the elements of good storytelling and writing and also demonstrate how everyone can turn everyday events into stories. Savvy teachers should take note and add this to their shelf of “how a story is made” titles. Gooney Bird’s stories are printed in larger type than the narrative and the black-and-white drawings add the right touch of sauciness (only the cover is in color). A hybrid of Harriet, Blossom, and Anastasia, irrepressible Gooney Bird is that rare bird in children’s fiction: one that instantly becomes an amusing and popular favorite. (Fiction. 6-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-618-23848-4
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Walter Lorraine/Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2002
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
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