Exercising the storyteller's prerogative to mix and match, San Souci (Secret of the Stones, 1999) takes incidents from several traditional “noodle” tales and sets them on the Louisiana bayou. When Ti-Paul, Philippe, and Pierre bring poles but no bait, and Jules, Jacques, and Jean bring bait but no poles, it looks like no one's going to fish. The misinterpreted advice of a passerby only muddies the waters, and the silliness escalates until Pierre decides that he must be dead, since no matter who does the tallying, there only seem to be five people present. Luckily, Pierre's wife, Henriette, arrives to set things straight, more or less. In Kennedy's (Mr. Bumble, 1997) cartoon illustrations, the six dim bulbs struggle through their misadventures wearing wide, vacuous smiles, as a frog and a turtle look on in vast amusement. The tale has a mild gumbo flavor, evoked more by cadence and pacing than dialect, and the droll goings-on will put readers and listeners—even those familiar with similar incidents in Alvin Schwartz's All of Our Noses Are Here (1985) and like collections—in stitches. (glossary, afterword, bibliography) (Picture book/folktale. 6-8)
Pub Date: May 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7868-0385-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2000
A foolish hero, a featherbrained heroine, and a bevy of muddle-headed characters lead the cast in this wry retelling from Kellogg (The Three Little Pigs, 1997, etc.). When a buffoonish gentlemen courts a young maiden, he discovers that silliness is epidemic in her family. While getting some cider, the young maiden daydreams about her pending marriage, the birth of her son, his growth to manhood, and his death when a mallet “donks” him on the head. She begins crying, relates the sorry scenario to her parents, and sets them sobbing, too. The gentlemen sets out to find three people sillier than his future wife and in-laws, a task that is easier than he imagined, and he returns willingly to their fold. A close encounter with the mallet during the wedding festivities serves the gentleman a slice of crow as he ultimately appears the most foolish of all. Kellogg’s bright, cartoon-like illustrations coupled with the hilarious captions make for a raucous tale that pokes fun at the foibles of those who count themselves as serious. (Picture book/folklore. 4-8)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7636-0811-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1999
When Aje, the daughter of the river goddess Yemoya, leaves her underwater home to marry, what she misses most is the night. The sun shines all the time in her new home and hurts her eyes. Her husband sends couriers to Yemoya, with the request that they return with some night. Yemoya gladly packs a sack for them, warning the creatures not to peek inside. Of course, that’s a temptation too big for the animals to resist; all the bats, owls, gnats, spiders, and darkness whoosh out of the bag. At first, the animals are scared, but they soon adjust to the darkness, as does Aje, who falls into a deep peaceful sleep. The next morning, she names the morning star, the rooster, and the early rising birds as symbols of dawn. Riordan’s language is perfunctory, but Stow’s pictures portray both the fluid blue of underwater life, and the parching hot yellows and oranges of the earth. This competent retelling, fully sourced, could be added to more extensive folklore collections. (Picture book/folklore. 5-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7613-1358-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Millbrook
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1999
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