Nettie Jo's Friends [Hardcover]

Patricia McKissack (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up

Illus. in full color. While searching for a sewing needle to make her doll a new dress, "Nettie Jo helps Miz Rabbit unflop her ears, Fox get the sun out of his eyes, and Panther stop his sneezing. The trio turns up on her doorstep, with a needle as a thank-you gift. McKissack sets her story in the rural South at the turn of the century and offers a feisty black heroine whose ordinary concerns are caressed by fantasy. Cook's oil paintings are suffused with a golden glow...as soft as a kiss, yet filled wtih energy. A warm, witty wedding of text and art."--(starred) Booklist.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

McKissack, known for Flossie and the Fox and the more recent Mirandy and Brother Wind , joins forces with Cook, who debuted last year with a painterly version of The Gingerbread Boy. Their combined talents in this book create a folktale that, if convoluted, has many valuable points. Nettie Jo's mother is sewing her a new dress for a wedding. But Nettie Jo wants to make sure her doll, Annie Mae, has a new dress, too. She has the fabric, but with all the women preparing for the wedding, a sewing needle is scarce. So Nettie Jo leaves home to find her own needle, enlisting the help of a rabbit, a fox and a panther. The story aptly shows the power of a little imagination in creating solutions, and there is a fine piece of dramatic tension when Nettie Jo gets up the courage to face Panther. But the rest of the story unwinds without a definite sense of cause and effect; the animals race aroundpredator and preybut their sudden attack of good manners is inexplicable. As for Cook, he again employs a technique that leaves shimmering streaks of paint on the page. But Nettie Jo's face, capable of great expression on some pages, seems almost frozen in others. The potential for excellence is here, but readers' expectations will remain mostly unfulfilled. Ages 4-9.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-- Nettie Jo is eagerly anticipating her cousin's wedding until she is told that her beloved doll and constant companion, Annie Mae, is too "scraggly-looking" to go. Nettie Jo's mother manages to find a scrap of leftover lace to make a new dress for the doll, but no one in the busy family has a spare sewing needle. Determined to go to the wedding and to take her doll, Nettie Jo sets out in search of a needle. Her day-long search turns up many interesting objects, but no sewing needle. During her search, Nettie Jo meets Miz Rabbit, Mr. Fox, and Mr. Panther, all of whom have problems of their own. Using the objects that she has found, Nettie Jo is able to solve their problems, and they, in turn, provide a satisfying resolution to her dilemma. Once again, McKissack has created a warm, faintly nostalgic story with roots in the rural South. Like the heroine of Flossie and the Fox (Dial, 1986), Nettie Jo is appealingly forthright and self-confident. The story is nicely patterned and repetitive, with a few surprising twists that add humor and a touch of drama. McKissack gracefully incorporates elements of fantasy into her otherwise realistic setting, creating a very child-like world in which magic is expected and accepted. As in her previous books, she displays a real feel for language. Her authentic Southern vernacular is rich and rhythmic with a natural flow that reads well aloud. Cook's illustrations are a perfect match for McKissack's story. The fluid lines and natural postures of his figures provide each character with an animated individuality. Warm-skinned Nettie Jo is especially attractive, depicted as a bright, sunny black child without any trace of cloying sweetness. The fuzzy, out-of-focus look of Cook's pictures supports and reinforces the fantasy of the story, while his palette of reds and golds evokes the feel of a late summer day in the South. His use of light and shadow moves readers through the day until the final picture leaves them with a sense of pure joy, humming "Here Comes the Bride" right along with Nettie Jo. --Linda Boyles, Alachua County Library District, Gainesville, Fla.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover
• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (March 18, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394891589
• ISBN-13: 978-0394891583
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,519,419 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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