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LILY AND THE MIXED-UP LETTERS

Name: LILY AND THE MIXED-UP LETTERS
Author: Deborah Hodge
ISBN: 978-0-88776-757-9

by Deborah Hodge & illustrated by France Brassard ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 13, 2007

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A rather shallow treatment of reading difficulties is the focus of Hodge’s second work of fiction. Lily’s strength is her artistic ability, but in second grade, the emphasis is on reading, and Lily just can’t get the hang of it as “letters dance and blur in front of her eyes.” After her teacher announces that the students will be reading a page aloud on Parent’s Day, Lily finally confides in her mother. Lily’s friend Grace becomes her reading buddy, while Lily helps Grace with her painting. Lily practices her page, almost to the exclusion of all else, making songs out of the words, repeating them over and over and drawing them in the air. When it is her turn, she makes some mistakes and isn’t as fast or as smooth as the other kids, but she reads the whole page and fairly beams with pride. Brassard’s lifelike watercolors tenderly show Lily’s every emotion as she struggles with learning to read. But ultimately, Hodge’s text is missing the depth and feeling of Patricia Polacco’s Thank You, Mr. Falker (1998). (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: March 13, 2007

ISBN: 978-0-88776-757-9

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Tundra Books

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2007

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
WEST COAST WILD RAINFOREST
by Deborah Hodge ; illustrated by Karen Reczuch

- BOOK REVIEW
WEST COAST WILD BABIES
by Deborah Hodge ; illustrated by Karen Reczuch

- BOOK REVIEW
COOKING WITH BEAR
by Deborah Hodge ; illustrated by Lisa Cinar

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RAPUNZEL

adapted by Rachel Isadora & illustrated by Rachel Isadora ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2008

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
DO I HAVE TO WEAR A COAT?
by Rachel Isadora ; illustrated by Rachel Isadora

- BOOK REVIEW
MY DOG LAUGHS
by Rachel Isadora ; illustrated by Rachel Isadora

- BOOK REVIEW
I JUST WANT TO SAY GOOD NIGHT
by Rachel Isadora ; illustrated by Rachel Isadora

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BUBBA, THE COWBOY PRINCE

A FRACTURED TEXAS TALE

by Helen Ketteman & illustrated by James Warhola ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1997

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A Cinderella parody features the off-the-wall, whang-dang Texas hyperbole of Ketteman (The Year of No More Corn, 1993, etc.) and the insouciance of Warhola, who proves himself only too capable of creating a fairy godcow; that she's so appealingly whimsical makes it easy to accept the classic tale's inversions. The protagonist is Bubba, appropriately downtrodden and overworked by his wicked stepdaddy and loathsome brothers Dwayne and Milton, who spend their days bossing him around. The other half of the happy couple is Miz Lurleen, who owns ``the biggest spread west of the Brazos.'' She craves male companionship to help her work the place, ``and it wouldn't hurt if he was cute as a cow's ear, either.'' There are no surprises in this version except in the hilarious way the premise plays itself out and in Warhola's delightful visual surprises. When Lurleen tracks the bootless Bubba down, ``Dwayne and Milton and their wicked daddy threw chicken fits.'' Bubba and babe, hair as big as a Texas sun, ride off to a life of happy ranching, and readers will be proud to have been along for the courtship. (Picture book/folklore. 6-8)