Using poems and pictures, this modern bestiary proves a fascinating introduction to mythical creatures from different cultures. Beginning with the ever-popular dragon and ending with the familiar phoenix, the collection also includes the less well-known Russian firebird, the Old Testament cockatrice, the British hobgoblin and will o’ the wisp, the Egyptian sphinx and the Southeast Asian naga. Each creature is described in a poem capturing some of its unique features as well as its mystery. The mermaid is “part woman, part fish” who listens “to the waves break on the shore—half song, half roar,” while the gargoyle is a beast “with a stone tongue, with a stone throat” whose “mouth is a rainspout.” While the illustrations appropriately borrow elements from medieval illuminated manuscripts, including embellished capital letters, intricate curvilinear forms and brilliant colors, they also incorporate decorative forms from the cultural source. The firebird reflects Russian folk art; the trolls recall Nordic wood carvings; the thunderbird echoes tribal art of the Pacific Northwest. End-pages ingeniously unite the curious creatures providing the perfect start and finish to this little masterpiece. (glossary) (Picture book. 6-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-15-206325-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2008
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
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
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