Aunt Nancy is a granny not to trifle with, whether it’s Cousin Lazybones or Old Man Trouble, or doleful Old Woeful or sly Mister Death doing the trifling. To a one, none can outsmart, outwit or outguess this crusty, clever old woman. The stories in these four chapters are the embodiment of the grit, gumption and glee of good old-fashioned folktales. Take Old Lazybones: He’s so lazy even his shadow won’t follow him. After he gets 17 helpings of lunch and 22 helpings of supper without lifting his big toe, sharp-witted Aunt Nancy can’t seem to get out of bed the next morning. Faced with cookin’ and cleanin’, Lazybones hightails it home. The shrewd artwork stages each episode with a full-color, full-page beginning, then pantomimes the interior scenes with black-and-white silhouettes, which are very effective. The first two stories were previously published individually in 1996, also illustrated by Parkins, but the inventive book design and crafty illustrations are right up Aunt Nancy’s chicken coop and just ripe for a storyteller to sink her teeth into. (Fiction. 7-10)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-7636-3074-4
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2007
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
McDonald’s irrepressible third-grader (Judy Moody Gets Famous, 2001, etc.) takes a few false steps before hitting full stride. This time, not only has her genius little brother Stink submitted a competing entry in the Crazy Strips Band-Aid design contest, but in the wake of her science teacher’s heads-up about rainforest destruction and endangered animals, she sees every member of her family using rainforest products. It’s all more than enough to put her in a Mood, which gets her in trouble at home for letting Stink’s pet toad, Toady, go free, and at school for surreptitiously collecting all the pencils (made from rainforest cedar) in class. And to top it off, Stink’s Crazy Strips entry wins a prize, while she gets . . . a certificate. Chronicled amusingly in Reynolds’s frequent ink-and-tea drawings, Judy goes from pillar to post—but she justifies the pencil caper convincingly enough to spark a bottle drive that nets her and her classmates not only a hundred seedling trees for Costa Rica, but the coveted school Giraffe Award (given to those who stick their necks out), along with T-shirts and ice cream coupons. Judy’s growing corps of fans will crow “Rare!” right along with her. (Fiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-7636-1446-7
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2002
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