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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is what it sounds like, when doves cry, April 8, 2005
There is a great mistaken belief amongst a large portion of the human race that if a book's protagonist is a child then that book, by extension, must be a work intended for wee ones. Too often, rather peculiar titles will be handed to little ones as kiddie fare (paging "Kira-Kira") when such notions are not only laughable but somewhat bizarre. I mean, if every book with a kid hero was meant to be read by kids then by extension shouldn't every book containing an elderly protagonist be read by the aged and infirm? Which brings us to the delightful picture book, "Lucy Dove". "Lucy Dove" actually flies in the face of my previous statement since I truly feel that every human being, the elderly included, would benefit from a perusal of this perfect meeting of folktale and ethereal illustration. This is one of those picture books you simply do not see every day.
There once was a foolish, superstitious, and incredibly wealthy gentleman (or "laird"). But this is not his story. You see, the laird was the kind of fellow who felt he needed a bit of luck to keep himself happy. And what better way is there to be lucky than to own a pair of lucky trousers? And what better trousers could they be than the kind sewn together under a full moon in the graveyard of old St. Andrew's church? So the laird sent a proclamation offering a whole heaping helping of gold to anyone who'd do the deed the next moonlit night. Which brings us to our heroine, Lucy Dove. Lucy was not exactly in the first fair bloom of her youth, and she was seriously considering retiring from the seamstress line of work. Problem was, she didn't exactly have a pension. So when she heard the laird's proposal she thought it was a mighty fine deal. The next full moon, Lucy's out in that churchyard ah-sewing up some trousers. Until a very nasty someone tries to stop her in her work. And it has quite long claws.
For anyone who reads this tale and then proceeds to attempt to find its predecessors, please know that according to author Janice Del Negro, Lucy is an original character and merely based on traditional Celtic and British sources. Says her bookflap, " `Lucy Dove' is her version of a traditional Celtic tale she has been telling for years, one that evolved from her search for stories with active heroines to offset the passive female protagonists of many popular fairy tales". One might point out that even when you do find a gutsy heroine in a tale, she's usually a young lovely maiden and very rarely a witty fast-thinking crone like our dear Lucy here. Moreover, the villain of this tale (a smelly bogle with a tendency to repeat himself) is simultaneously scary and pitiable. This is in large part due to illustrator Leonid Gore's remarkable illustrations. Creating the finest distinctions between shadow and light with luminescent acrylics, Gore's tale is all soft and scary at the same time. When the bogle is told by Lucy that people speak of it often, the picture shows it resting a sharp chin on the back of its hand, like a child pining for a story. Little details as well as grand ones make this book especially wonderful to view.
I know that there are roughly 78.4 billion Halloween picture books for children out there. But if you're thinking of doing something a little different in the autumnal season, definitely cast your eye over the fabulous, "Lucy Dove". A tale that celebrates age and wisdom in the face of self-obsessed evil.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Lucy Dove, April 24, 2009
ISBN 0789480840 - I broke my own rule with this book and I regret it so much that I have to confess. I never, ever, read the reviews before I read the book if I intend to review it. Ever. There's a good reason for this. Over the years, I've stumbled across reviews by family and friends of authors and even by the authors themselves. The level of my disgust with that practice is high, it almost always affects me negatively and I hate for that to seep into my own review. So, finding a review or reviews by people who proudly inform me that they "know Janice"... it's a bothersome thing. Their opinion is rendered useless to me, even if they're geniuses, because you KNOW they're going to 5-star anything their friend wrote. Then I read the book, wondering why, looking for the reason, the author couldn't get their book reviewed the honest way. That happened to me with this book.
Lucy Dove would like nothing more than to retire "in a cottage of her own, on her own piece of shore". When the soothsayer of a rich and superstitious laird tells him one way he can have good fortune, he offers a sack of gold to anyone who will sew him a pair of trousers in the haunted graveyard of St Andrew's church on the night of the next full moon. Lucy sees this as an excellent opportunity to secure her own future and sets out on the night in question, fully prepared. Just as she begins to doubt the tales told in town, a smell arises and a creature appears. Keeping her wits, Lucy manages to finish her sewing and flee from the creature. The race is on the reach the laird's castle...
The book is not marked, anywhere, to indicate the target age group, a mistake a lot of books make. Thin and oversized, the book looks to be appropriate for the 4-8 age group, but the text is more appropriate for the 9-11 group. The text is almost flawless, truthfully, which caught me by surprise. The tale unfurls at the perfect pace, building a little tension and not giving away much in advance, which will keep the reader on the edge of his/her seat. The story would make a great Halloween read, although I think I'll add it, alongside The Sprightly Tailor (which this book greatly resembles and which can be found in Celtic Fairy Tales) to the St Patrick's Day reading!
The illustrations, by Leonid Gore, are... ugly. I don't mean "ugly" in a "scary, haunting" way, I just mean unattractive. In most books for older kids, this wouldn't matter because they're not the picture-book crowd. In the case, however, the illustrations almost literally take up every inch of every page, even where there's text (they only interfere with the text for one word, to my eye). I understand what Gore was trying to evoke, I just think it failed and that failure is why the book is getting 4 stars, rather than 5. Finally - if you care, and I do, lately - the book is printed and bound in the U.S., a small thing that I like to see.
- AnnaLovesBooks
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2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Almost as good as hearing Janice herself tell the tale!, October 15, 2000
I am lucky enough to know Janice and have heard her telling of this story which she has put into print. If you are not so lucky, the book does an excellent job of capturing her haunting, original tale. The ghostly illustrations set the mood for a graveyard trek. Lucy, the elderly and brave heroine, has that look of determination of one who will not be put down. In almost lyrical prose, inspired by traditional Celtic lore, an elderly woman is the brave heroine who sets out to meet a challenge issued by the laird. The illustrations support, rather than compete, with this tale of a strong woman, but it is the words, imagined in the minds of readers or listeners, that truly cast the spell.
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