Fleischman's favorite folk-motif, the tell-tale object, is used with panache in this tale of Finzel the fortune-teller—who, in true Fools of Chelm tradition (the jacket says it, but it's so), can see a person's past or future in a lemon or a walnut. . . but can't see well enough to tell whose lemon is whose. Specifically, he mixes up the lemon and the walnut, and the lettuce, of young simpleton Pavel and elderly ailing Mashka, and has Pavel convinced he's near death. When Pavers wily brother Osip catches on to Finzel's blindness, he hatches a scheme to steal Finzel's money—by having Finzel read a poppy plucked from his own window box. . . and telling him where he (Osip) keeps his (Finzel's) money. In true Chelm tradition, too, Finzel outwits Osip by mistake—also making nothing more of him, as a thief, "than a mouse." Sewall's chunky figures are immediately recognizable types, but with character and individuality. A droll and shapely little book—on a par, in its way, with Graven Images.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1983
ISBN: 0525440577
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1983
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
The glowing friendship of Frog and Toad continues, with Frog as the wiser, supportive partner easing Toad through his small frustrations and uncertainties. Frog plays the sympathetic sounding board while Toad convinces himself to clean house today and take it easy tomorrow instead of the other way round; he encourages Toad through a fourth and finally successful try at kite flying despite the robins' ridicule; he scares himself and Toad with a shivery ghost story that might or might not have happened to him; and, less admirably perhaps, he shrinks Toad's too-big birthday hat with water while leading his friend to believe that Toad's own big thoughts have enlarged his head. Once more, Lobel leaves the two with their friendship reaffirmed, this time after Toad misinterprets his friend's desire to be alone for a while. As in Frog and Toad All Year (1976) the relationship has settled into a comfortable, conflict-free pattern; but the complementary pair continues to delight and vulnerable Toad to invite sympathetic recognition.
Pub Date: Oct. 3, 1979
ISBN: 081243417X
Page Count: -
Publisher: Harper & Row
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1979
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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