SETTING THE TURKEYS FREE

A young African-American boy, with the help of his dog Foxy, brings his Thanksgiving crafts to life in this unusual story about art and imagination. The boy starts out making a hand-print turkey, an American art-class staple, but then decides to populate his big piece of taped-down paper with more turkeys to keep that one company. Soon he has to glue down a pen made out of Popsicle sticks to keep his brood safe from a hungry fox: “Go away, Foxy the fox! You’re frightening my turkeys! GOBBLE-GOBBLE-GOBBLE!” Just in time, the boy deters the fox with a big rocky obstacle—a purple fist print. The turkeys are safe for the moment, but when he sets them free to protect them from the next attack, he misses them and decides to lure them back with corn (photographs of actual kernels glued onto paint). All this produces the delightful effect of the story-building before the reader’s eyes. Wilson-Max’s simple, flat, boldly colorful paintings cleverly reflect the work-in-progress nature of this fresh, original offering. (Picture book. 3-6)