Paul Fleischman, who wrote last year's sentimental Birthday Tree, is more successful (if not much more original) with this atmospheric story of a mute 12-year-old boy held as a prisoner/servant by a thieving, sinister old innkeeper. Aaron has wandered from home in search of his mother, who has failed to return from market during a bad blizzard. He is picked up by a good-natured rag man, but the man is illiterate, and so can't read Aaron's notes or comprehend the situation. When Aaron leaves the man's wagon to find help at an inn. he ends up in the clutches of frightful Miss Grackle—who reads his dreams, makes soup of his boots so he can't run away, and forces him to join her at night in the guests' rooms, where she peels back their eyelids and peeks in at their dreams, hoping some day to catch out a man rich enough to hold for ransom. (Ordinarily, she just picks their pockets.) This dream-reading bit is a good touch, and there are others—such as the curse that leaves Miss Grackle unable to light her fire, and eventually leaves her frozen to death with a bandit captive she thinks is a prince. Otherwise, if this is little more than an exercise in handling very old conventions, Fleischman has learned to wield the conventions most proficiently.
Pub Date: March 5, 1980
ISBN: 0812497643
Page Count: 88
Publisher: Harper & Row
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1980
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
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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