Amazon.com Review
Former Soviet artist Valeri Gorbachev (
One Rainy Day) brings back his playfully illustrated animal pals for another romp, this time with storyteller Judy Sierra, who has collected 20 boisterous read-along tales from around the world.
A doctor of folklore (both literally and metaphorically), Sierra did a fine job assembling this motley crew of talking animals, magical monsters, and even a talking pancake: Bahaman witch Koolimasunder W. Diamondpaw loses her treasure to a little girl; a fire and a wave both get speaking lines in the Bangladeshi story "Toontoony Bird"; and a pumpkin sings for a djinni (well, sort of) in Iran's "The Singing Pumpkin." Throughout, Gorbachev provides gleeful backup, easily switching gears from dancing Japanese mice to the Brazilian wedding of Miss Lizard and Jabuti the Tortoise. (And who knew a talking pancake could have such an emotional range?)
Sierra's choices will no doubt be fun for any child to hear or read along with, but the carefully picked stories--while silly and occasionally, yes, even sillier--still teach worthwhile lessons universal to every culture. (Ages 4 to 8) --Paul Hughes
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
In this spirited collection, reteller Sierra (Nursery Tales from Around the World; and its sequel, Can You Guess My Name?: Traditional Tales Around the World, noted below) once again rounds up a bevy of brief, traditional tales. Here, 20 stories from countries as diverse as Bangladesh, Borneo, Mexico and the Czech Republic range from some that will be entirely new to youngsters to riffs on familiar yarns (among them a Russian variation on the tale of a mitten that expands to shelter woodland animals, and a cumulative Irish tale with a refrain akin to that of The Gingerbread Man). In the volume's funniest offering, "Juan Bobo" from Argentina, a simpleton inadvertently wins the hand of a princess. Gorbachev (Nicky and the Big, Bad Wolves) utilizes her signature renderings of animals endowed with bold personalities to great effect here. Vignettes build the tension in "The Wonderful Pancake" as various pursuers join the fray, while a two-thirds-page spot illustration captures the climactic moment when "Bear Squash-You-All-Flat" bursts the mitten in the Russian story. Balancing nonsense capers and trickster tales, Sierra occasionally integrates words from the language of the country of origin. Though several selections seem a bit slight, well-timed repetition, alliteration, sound effects and copious dialogue from a variety of characters make most of the stories lively choices for reading-aloud. Gorbachev's animated illustrations reflect the international settings and reinforce the playfulness of the tales. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
