In this Cajun-inflected Tom Thumb tale, pint-sized Little Pierre saves his dimwitted brothers Big Pierre, Fat Pierre, Wise Pierre, and Foolish Pierre from a Swamp Ogre, and rescues Marie Louise, a rich man’s daughter, in the bargain. While doing all the chores, Little Pierre overhears his brothers scheming and tags along as they venture into the swamp. Good thing, too: when the ogre turns out to be much bigger than expected, he leads the general rout, cleverly eluding a 12-legged alligator and convincing a monstrous mud catfish to chow down on the ogre along the way. Animal and semi-human forms crouch within foliage and gnarled bark in Catrow’s busy swampscapes as the Pierres hurry past oblivious, each (except for Little Pierre) looking more hilariously clueless than the last. The enormously fat ogre seems like an elemental creature too, a grossly ugly part of the surroundings until it slips headfirst down that catfish’s maw. Leaving the chores to his brothers, Little Pierre goes off to a well-earned happy-ever-after with Marie Louise. A hoot, fuh shore, for true. (long source note, glossary) (Picture book/folktale. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-15-202482-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Silver Whistle/Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2003
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
Nolen and Nelson offer a smaller, but no less gifted counterpart to Big Jabe (2000) in this new tall tale. Shortly after being born one stormy night, Rose thanks her parents, picks a name, and gathers lightning into a ball—all of which is only a harbinger of feats to come. Decked out in full cowboy gear and oozing self-confidence from every pore, Rose cuts a diminutive, but heroic figure in Nelson’s big, broad Western scenes. Though she carries a twisted iron rod as dark as her skin and ropes clouds with fencing wire, Rose overcomes her greatest challenge—a pair of rampaging twisters—not with strength, but with a lullaby her parents sang. After turning tornadoes into much-needed rain clouds, Rose rides away, “that mighty, mighty song pressing on the bull’s-eye that was set at the center of her heart.” Throughout, she shows a reflective bent that gives her more dimension than most tall-tale heroes: a doff of the Stetson to her and her creators. (author’s note) (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-15-216472-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Silver Whistle/Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2003
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