Inspired by his interest in traditional creation stories, the highly respected Anaya (Farolitos for Abuelo, 1999, etc.) teams up with Caldecott medalist Diaz (Jump Rope Magic, p. 390, etc.) to present an original story explaining the existence of that most unusual Southwestern bird, the roadrunner. Anaya’s prose has the cadences of oral telling, and Diaz’s bright images with golden auras are both energetic and folk-like. The story begins with the grandly dazzling Snake, a self-proclaimed “king of the road,” who terrifies children and their parents. The Elders of the people go to Desert Woman, creator of all the desert animals, for help in controlling him. Desert Woman gives Snake a rattle (making him Rattlesnake), but that only makes him bolder and more terrifying. Then, with the help of the other animals (gifts of long legs from Deer, sharp eyes from Coyote, etc.), Desert Woman creates Roadrunner, breathing life into him and giving him the gift of dance. Finally, Desert Woman encourages the awkward Roadrunner to practice until he can dance well enough to challenge and defeat Rattlesnake. Disappointingly, the prose is often wordy and uneven, with short simple sentences (“ ‘Look at me,’ Rattlesnake said to the animals,”) alternating with the more complex (“However, instead of inhibiting Rattlesnake, the rattle only made him more threatening”). The story bogs down and goes on too long, perhaps because it is really three stories rather than one. Multiple messages about the value of cooperation and respect, the value of individual gifts, and the importance of practice may be too many and too explicit for what seems at heart to be a simple pourquoi tale. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7868-0254-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The seemingly ageless Seeger brings back his renowned giant for another go in a tuneful tale that, like the art, is a bit sketchy, but chockful of worthy messages. Faced with yearly floods and droughts since they’ve cut down all their trees, the townsfolk decide to build a dam—but the project is stymied by a boulder that is too huge to move. Call on Abiyoyo, suggests the granddaughter of the man with the magic wand, then just “Zoop Zoop” him away again. But the rock that Abiyoyo obligingly flings aside smashes the wand. How to avoid Abiyoyo’s destruction now? Sing the monster to sleep, then make it a peaceful, tree-planting member of the community, of course. Seeger sums it up in a postscript: “every community must learn to manage its giants.” Hays, who illustrated the original (1986), creates colorful, if unfinished-looking, scenes featuring a notably multicultural human cast and a towering Cubist fantasy of a giant. The song, based on a Xhosa lullaby, still has that hard-to-resist sing-along potential, and the themes of waging peace, collective action, and the benefits of sound ecological practices are presented in ways that children will both appreciate and enjoy. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83271-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
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