This tale tells of how a crabby old woman was transformed into, if not the epitome of sweetness, at least a pleasingly tart character, while a delight in language is evident everywhere throughout the book. Griselda is the crab's name. She lives alone and is known far and wide as having a tongue that smote its victims like a bullwhip. Of the Lord Mayor: “A donkey on two legs is still a donkey.” Of her neighbors: “At least my words are not all vine and no fruit.” Still, her loneliness hurts, but there was nothing for it until Griselda curbed her grumping. “Her tongue had nettled too many for too long. Even the village priest left her out of his prayers.” One night, an old woman wearing a lovely kerchief knocks on her door and asks for shelter. Griselda grudgingly complies and is given the scarf the next morning in return. She is told the scarf is magic, but will hear none of it. Yet, as she makes her rounds in town, ready to berate all and sundry, nothing but kind words pass her lips: “Your kind compliment is nearly as delicious as your bread,” or “My aches and pains vanish when I meet an old friend.” People are astounded by the change (as is Griselda, who can’t believe what she is saying, and is none too happy about it), but they are ready to accept her into their lives. And when they come to pay visits the next day, Griselda greets them with warmth and politeness, even though she has lost the scarf. She still finds time for a little sass—of the mayor helping her gather eggs: “Two heads are better than one. Even if one is a cabbagehead.” The antique turns of phrase sound like music when read aloud, and who can say the message is not a good one to repeat: It’s as easy to be wickedly funny as wickedly mean. Litzinger’s artwork, with its pastel shades, lovely patterning, and homespun characters, is an added bonus (The Old Woman and Her Pig, 1993). (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2000
ISBN: 0-8234-1473-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A validating and breathtaking next chapter of a Mother Goose favorite.
Humpty Dumpty, classically portrayed as an egg, recounts what happened after he fell off the wall in Santat’s latest.
An avid ornithophile, Humpty had loved being atop a high wall to be close to the birds, but after his fall and reassembly by the king’s men, high places—even his lofted bed—become intolerable. As he puts it, “There were some parts that couldn’t be healed with bandages and glue.” Although fear bars Humpty from many of his passions, it is the birds he misses the most, and he painstakingly builds (after several papercut-punctuated attempts) a beautiful paper plane to fly among them. But when the plane lands on the very wall Humpty has so doggedly been avoiding, he faces the choice of continuing to follow his fear or to break free of it, which he does, going from cracked egg to powerful flight in a sequence of stunning spreads. Santat applies his considerable talent for intertwining visual and textual, whimsy and gravity to his consideration of trauma and the oft-overlooked importance of self-determined recovery. While this newest addition to Santat’s successes will inevitably (and deservedly) be lauded, younger readers may not notice the de-emphasis of an equally important part of recovery: that it is not compulsory—it is OK not to be OK.
A validating and breathtaking next chapter of a Mother Goose favorite. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62672-682-6
Page Count: 45
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996
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