From Publishers Weekly
The homespun, old-fashioned charm of Small's (The Gardener) busy pictures makes the most of this winning narrative, first published in 1923 as one of Sandburg's Rootabaga Stories. The comedy begins on a Nebraska corn farm owned by the Huckabucks: Jonas Jonas, Mama Mama and their daughter, Pony Pony ("I call my pony-face girl Pony Pony because if she doesn't hear me the first time, she always does the second," quips her father). The family's crop yields a bountiful harvest. But when Pony Pony finds a Chinese silver slipper buckle in the middle of a squash, her parents predict this means that their luck is going to change, "and we don't know whether it will be good luck or bad luck." A fire in the barn causes a veritable blizzard of popcorn, with Pony Pony and her dog staring out at each other, goggle-eyed. The Huckabucks then take to the road for several years while they wait for "a sign, a signal" to return home. As they cover the Midwestern states, Small shows the family as a tightly knit trio, with a mother and daughter proud of Jonas Jonas's resourcefulness, whether he is driving a coal wagon or watching the watches in a watch factory. When the Huckabucks finally get their "sign" to return to their farm, Small makes the most of their homecoming: all the animals gather at the front door to welcome the Huckabucks home, newspapers spilling off the front stoop. He depicts the family's peripatetic lifestyle with wry wit and droll details, leading readers of this engaging book to feel they've met with the good kind of luck. All ages. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 4-Finally, another of Sandburg's Rootabaga Stories has been made into a picture book-and a fine one. Jonas Jonas Huckabuck, his wife Mama Mama Huckabuck, and their daughter Pony Pony Huckabuck raise popcorn. One day, the child finds a Chinese silver slipper buckle inside a squash. Her parents say it's a sign that their luck will change. Sure enough, that night a fire starts in the barn and the popcorn starts to pop, until the entire farm is buried in it. The family leaves, traveling throughout the Midwest. In different towns, Pony Pony proudly watches as her father drives a coal car, digs ditches, or works as a watch-factory watchman. On Thanksgiving, three years later, she opens a squash, and there's the mate to the silver buckle. It's another sign, and so the family returns to the farm, ready to grow anything but popcorn. Small's watercolors burst with hue; each panoramic double-page spread is full of detail and the people look extraordinarily human in figure and expression. With exuberant energy, the artist illustrates the reverence Sandburg held for the Midwest-its farming, industry, and people. He communicated it through his rhythmic text that is delicious on the tongue-that plays, details, catalogs, and repeats until the story feels like a spell. His classic Depression-era migrant-worker fairy tale should spring to new life with this new version.
Nina Lindsay, Oakland Public Library, CA Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
