In a variant of Wiley and the Hairy Man, San Souci (Peter and the Blue Witch Baby, p. 892, etc.) tells the story with characters speaking a slight dialect. Callie Ann thinks “good-natured hardworking Mose would make a fine stepdaddy.” But Callie Ann’s Mama “plans t’ marry a quality gennelman.” And when a stranger strolls up from the piney woods with a broad-brimmed hat, a fancy coat, and white spats, she invites him “inter the kitchen to sit a spell.” It is up to Callie Ann to expose Mistah Bear for the sweet-toothed varmint he is, and she does. But, Mistah Bear is vengeful and sends his two sisters, dressed in elegant finery, to trick Callie Ann into the woods. With tough advice from Mose, and her own quick wits, Callie Ann saves the day, but not before she is trapped in a tree. Daily’s picture-book debut is fairly successful; his illustrations in gouache present strong, colorful characters. The sister bears are especially fine in their elegant costumes complete with parasols, veils, and gloves. His softly rendered backgrounds are reminiscent of Jerry Pinkney’s work. The overall design of the book is pleasing, but some of the pictures are strangely static and posed rather than full of action. The typeface is formal, giving an old-fashioned sense to the tale. However, the capital letters have a heavy look to them and seem to jump out at the reader. This detracts from a uniform-looking text and mars a smooth integration of pictures and text. The lively text and story will be enjoyed by a group, though the dialect used by the characters might put some storytellers off. There are notes as to sources used, and the African and African-American background is further explained. (Picture book/folktale. 6-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-8037-1766-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2000
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 repressive teacher almost ruins second grade for a prodigy in this amusing, if overwritten, tale. Having shown a fascination with great buildings since constructing a model of the Leaning Tower of Pisa from used diapers at age two, Iggy sinks into boredom after Miss Greer announces, throwing an armload of histories and craft projects into the trash, that architecture will be a taboo subject in her class. Happily, she changes her views when the collapse of a footbridge leaves the picnicking class stranded on an island, whereupon Iggy enlists his mates to build a suspension bridge from string, rulers and fruit roll-ups. Familiar buildings and other structures, made with unusual materials or, on the closing pages, drawn on graph paper, decorate Roberts’s faintly retro cartoon illustrations. They add an audience-broadening element of sophistication—as would Beaty’s decision to cast the text into verse, if it did not result in such lines as “After twelve long days / that passed in a haze / of reading, writing and arithmetic, / Miss Greer took the class / to Blue River Pass / for a hike and an old-fashioned picnic.” Another John Lithgow she is not, nor is Iggy another Remarkable Farkle McBride (2000), but it’s always salutary to see young talent vindicated. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-8109-1106-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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