Language purists may wince, but everyone else will applaud this Gallic tale of boy and dog separated, then reunited. “NO DOGS ALLOWED” reads the sign outside La School d’Excellence, and so young Jean Claude Jean is forced to leave his faithful Bonaparte back at the chateau. Bonaparte has other ideas, trying again and again to outwit the school’s rather nearsighted overseers. But when a last disguise finally works, Jean Claude is gone. Undismayed, Bonaparte offers his tracking services to the panicked trustees. Never one to leave a page unfilled, Halperin expands the short text considerably, fitting sequential scenes, views of Bonaparte searching city streets, thumbnail portraits and, for good measure, the occasional row of dogs or pastries, all within a series of patterned borders. Busy? Yes. Jumbled? Not at all. Because it’s drawn with vanishingly fine, but clear lines and exquisitely controlled color, every tiny detail in the harmonious illustrations is distinct, waiting to be picked out by fascinated viewers. In the end, Bonaparte tracks down his wayward boy, and the grateful trustees add a “W” to the “NO” on their sign—prompting a wave of new canine admissions. A chien sans peur is Bonaparte, coupling engagingly doggy devotion with rare ingenuity. (Picture book. 6-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7894-2617-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2000
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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