An arrogant girl disrespects the animal world and becomes part of it in this traditional First Nations tale, retold by James. After showing her disdain for bears, the unnamed protagonist encounters the nephew of the Chief of the Bear People, a group of human-bear shapeshifters. Forced into marriage with him, she contents herself with her new life, although her brothers’ search for her threatens this fragile relationship. Seeking shelter from them in a cave, the young woman gives birth to twins sharing human and animal characteristics. Although her husband has been kind, when she sees her brothers she alerts them, and her husband must sacrifice himself to avert a bloody confrontation. Never fully adapting back to her human surroundings, the woman and her children instead transform into bears, free to roam. Despite a few narrative stumbles, this is a memorable examination of the interdependence between humans and their environment. Atanas’s illustrations are strongest when the raw Pacific landscape spreads across the page, celebrating sky, land and sea. (author’s note) (Picture book/folktale. 6-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-894965-49-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simply Read
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81175-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
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