The team behind Cinder-Elly (1994) lands another fairy tale in New York City, with a majestic old apartment building standing in for the castle. When Little Beauty's parents give a bash to celebrate her birth, they forget to invite the witch. For that indiscretion, the witch lays a curse on Little Beauty: On her 14th birthday she'll prick her finger and fall into a deep sleep, along with her nearest and dearest, for 100 years. Little Beauty's years on earth without sharp objects have not blunted her intellect, however: Aware of her fate, she changes it by setting the alarm. The verse has a bounce that's right for reading aloud: ``Just to prove I'm not so mean/And that I'm not so snooty,/When time is up, a great rock star/Will wake the Sleeping Beauty,'' declares the witch, while a jazzy bit player pipes in ``Rooty-toot-toot/And tutti-frutti,/How does that grab you,/Dear Little Beauty?'' Karas's illustrations are diverting, featuring a shadowy cast of characters who appear to have caught the last train out of fin-de-siäcle Prague. (Picture book. 3-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-670-87033-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1996
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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A book that will make young dog-owners smile in recognition and confirm dogless readers' worst suspicions about the mayhem caused by pets, even winsome ones. Sam, who bears passing resemblance to an affable golden retriever, is praised for fetching the family newspaper, and goes on to fetch every other newspaper on the block. In the next story, only the children love Sam's swimming; he is yelled at by lifeguards and fishermen alike when he splashes through every watering hole he can find. Finally, there is woe to the entire family when Sam is bored and lonely for one long night. Boland has an essential message, captured in both both story and illustrations of this Easy-to-Read: Kids and dogs belong together, especially when it's a fun-loving canine like Sam. An appealing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-8037-1530-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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A little girl in a town of white snow and soot-blackened chimneys opens a small box and discovers a never-ending gift of colorful yarn.
Annabelle knits herself a sweater, and with the leftover yarn, she knits one for her dog, and with the yarn left over from that, she knits one for a neighbor and for her classmates and for her teacher and for her family and for the birdhouse and for the buildings in town. All and everything are warm, cozy and colorful until a clotheshorse of an archduke arrives. Annabelle refuses his monetary offers, whereupon the box is stolen. The greedy archduke gets his just deserts when he opens the box to find it empty. It wends its way back to Annabelle, who ends up happily sitting in a knit-covered tree. Klassen, who worked on the film Coraline, uses inks, gouache and colorized scans of a sweater to create a stylized, linear design of dark geometric shapes against a white background. The stitches of the sweaters add a subdued rainbow. Barnett entertained middle-grade readers with his Brixton Brothers detective series. Here, he maintains a folkloric narrative that results in a traditional story arc complete with repetition, drama and a satisfying conclusion.
A quiet story of sharing with no strings attached. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Jan. 17, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-06-195338-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2011
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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