As Hunter notes, this is ``a much-condensed but nevertheless faithful retelling'' of a Scottish Highland tale, recorded in Gaelic and published in English in 1860. It's the Prince of Alban's good luck that the shape-changer fox likes nothing better than ``poking his sharp nose into other people's affairs''; the prince, under a witch's spell, has been sent on an impossible quest, and even if he succeeds he expects to be put to ``a terrible death.'' Fortunately, Gilly Martin goes along with the prince to offer advice each time a goal eludes his grasp and he must undertake yet another trial. A five-headed giant, the Seven Big Women of Jura, and the King of Erin are among those who must be tricked; on the return journey (with Gilly Martin becoming a boat), the prince collects a princess and the several magical treasures he sought. Hunter's narration is tangy and swift, though the tale is so richly eventful that one wonders what lore and language have been omitted to satisfy the contemporary craving for brevity. McDermott's bright, tidily outlined illustrations strike a nice balance between popular appeal and an appropriately medieval flavor. A lively and attractive offering. (Folklore/Picture book. 5-10)
Pub Date: April 28, 1994
ISBN: 1-56282-517-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
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