Pint-sized Thumbelina faces danger and despair as she searches for true love. She grows from a bud, “no bigger than your thumb,” after her mother pleads with the witch for a child. When she is kidnapped to be married to the ugly Toadikins, Thumbelina’s weeping brings a multitude of characters to her aid. She then nurses a swallow to health, and he helps her avoid marriage to the dismal mole, the Man in Grey. Thin lines and dynamic colors portray the wispy and fair Thumbelina. Ibatoulline deftly balances darkness and light to convey Thumbelina’s quest for happiness, her expressive eyes giving her emotional depth. Emphasizing perspective, rich acryl gouache–and-watercolor spreads illustrate both vast outdoor scenes and intimate abodes. Alderson’s conversational tone brings warmth to the tale, and lively dialogue develops the characters. “Now don’t be obstropolous,” says Mrs. Mouse. “Otherwise I shall bite you with my little white teeth.” A cozily satisfying rendition of the classic. (Picture book/fairy tale. 4-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-7636-2079-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2009
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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A marketing trip from Miranda (Glad Monster, Sad Monster, p. 1309) that jiggity jigs off in time-honored nursery-rhyme fashion, but almost immediately derails into well-charted chaos. The foodstuffs—the fat pig, the red hen, the plump goose, the pea pods, peppers, garlic, and spice—are wholly reasonable in light of the author's mention of shopping at traditional Spanish mercados, which stock live animals and vegetables. Stevens transfers the action to a standard American supermarket and a standard American kitchen, bringing hilarity to scenes that combine acrylics, oil pastels, and colored pencil with photo and fabric collage elements. The result is increasing frazzlement for the shopper, an older woman wearing spectacles, hat, and purple pumps (one of which is consumed by her groceries). It's back to market one last time for ingredients for the hot vegetable soup she prepares for the whole bunch. True, her kitchen's trashed and she probably won't find a welcome mat at her supermarket hereafter, but all's well that ends well—at least while the soup's on. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-15-200035-6
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1997
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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