In Kimmel's version of this Ashanti tale (Anansi Goes Fishing, p. 612), the trickster-hero is a spider; here, he's a lazy man who wants to trick his friend Bonsu into fishing for him. Like Kimmel's turtle, Bonsu agrees to do all the work if only Anansi will get tired for him, but Anansi—objecting that the tiredness is the worst part—foolishly insists on working. In the end, the fish are taken by a python and a crocodile and Anansi has nothing to show for his labors but a tired back and the villagers' ridicule. Aardema's style, refined over 30 illustrious years, is fluid and economical. Waldman's watercolors, more literal than the work of most of her predecessors (notably the Dillons' Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears, 1976 Caldecott), are full of lovely details of textiles, pottery, basketry, and thatch-roofed mud houses. Just right for reading or telling. (Folklore/Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-8037-1164-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1992
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A Cinderella parody features the off-the-wall, whang-dang Texas hyperbole of Ketteman (The Year of No More Corn, 1993, etc.) and the insouciance of Warhola, who proves himself only too capable of creating a fairy godcow; that she's so appealingly whimsical makes it easy to accept the classic tale's inversions. The protagonist is Bubba, appropriately downtrodden and overworked by his wicked stepdaddy and loathsome brothers Dwayne and Milton, who spend their days bossing him around. The other half of the happy couple is Miz Lurleen, who owns ``the biggest spread west of the Brazos.'' She craves male companionship to help her work the place, ``and it wouldn't hurt if he was cute as a cow's ear, either.'' There are no surprises in this version except in the hilarious way the premise plays itself out and in Warhola's delightful visual surprises. When Lurleen tracks the bootless Bubba down, ``Dwayne and Milton and their wicked daddy threw chicken fits.'' Bubba and babe, hair as big as a Texas sun, ride off to a life of happy ranching, and readers will be proud to have been along for the courtship. (Picture book/folklore. 6-8)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-590-25506-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1997
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Rylant's debut as a picture book illustrator (not to be confused with her board book debut as a collagist in The Everyday Books, 1993) offers sweet comfort to all who have lost loved ones, pets or otherwise. ``When dogs go to Heaven, they don't need wings because God knows that dogs love running best. He gives them fields. Fields and fields and fields.'' There are geese to bark at, plenty of children, biscuits, and, for those that need them, homes. In page- filling acrylics, small, simply brushed figures float against huge areas of bright colors: pictures infused with simple, doggy joy. At the end, an old man leans on a cane as he walks up a slope toward a small white dog: ``Dogs in Dog Heaven may stay as long as they like. . . .They will be there when old friends show up. They will be there at the door.'' Pure, tender, lyrical without being overearnest, and deeply felt. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-590-41701-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Blue Sky/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1995
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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