RED LEGS

“War is hell,” General William T. Sherman is purported to have said, having been through more than one hellish battle himself. But Lewin chooses not to show the hell of war; rather, this mischaracterization, albeit a colorfully illustrated one, tells of youngish Stephen’s camping out with his dad and others as they reenact a battle in the US Civil War. Unfortunately, even this never manages to spark much life. The subtitle is misleading, since this doesn’t deal with real participants in that bloody event, but is about reenactors—those who derive pleasure in marching, wearing uniforms (clean), and carrying weapons in the present to reenact the past, in particular the Civil War. Lewin’s (watercolor or tempera) art is photographically semi-realistic and colorful, thanks in large part to the uniforms of the reenacting Union troops. Nowhere, though, can be found the dirt, blood, and horror of war. Those playing Union soldiers are costumed in full regalia; the Confederates, alas, are shown as country boys not in Confederate gray but in rag-tag homespun butternut. (The reason is never offered.) Unreal soldiers cannot arouse sympathy in an unreal cause, and young readers will therefore learn nothing—except that it’s fun to play war. A misguided effort that lacks animation in story and art and never finds a voice. (author’s note) (Picture book. 6-8)