Laszlo Kubinyi's precise and delicate drawings indicate the tone of this Zuni legend of a boy whose virtues inspire the guardian Corn Maidens to name him the father of his people. In a time of plenty when the others of his tribe are being ostentatiously extravagant, the boy and his baby sister are the only ones to offer food to the Corn Maidens, who visit the village disguised as beggar women. Later the two children are left behind in a time of drought when the tribe abandons the village to beg from neighboring Hopi. The boy makes a dragonfly out of cornstalks to please his hungry, unhappy sister, and in gratitude the dragonfly, who comes to life, intercedes for the children with the Corn Maidens, who feed them through the winter and appoint the boy a priest-leader to the returning Zuni. Thus vested with authority the boy becomes less sympathetic from our point of view: "No longer may the people live according to their own wills, but rather as children, whom a father and his brother must guide, counsel, and command. I am their father for I have tasted of the flesh of the Corn Maidens and thus it will be until the days of our people are spent." Yet the lesson of waste is one that we are just learning, and the spirit of Zuni mythology, documented in the author's appended notes, pervades.
Pub Date: Oct. 25, 1972
ISBN: 0826309100
Page Count: 92
Publisher: Harper & Row
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1972
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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
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