Southey's 19th-century poem describing the nature of his children's favorite waterfall splashes along swimmingly in this picture book rendition. Water and lily pads have already begun spilling down the staircase as Southey settles into his armchair to recite his rhyme. And seemingly unbeknownst to the concentrating poet, he, the three youngsters and the family dog sail downstream through perilous swells and around treacherous bends before landing safely in their backyard. Catrow's ink-and-watercolor illustrations blend the precise amounts of humor, adventure and danger to match the poem's rushing pace. The wide-eyed children and the dog with his hair standing on end continuously amuse with their various postures as they follow the water's "pouring and roaring and waving and raving and tossing and crossing" course. With rusticity rapidly giving way to aquatic antics, this energetic interpretation is somewhat more slapsticky than Mordicai Gerstein's larky setting of the poem (Children's Forecasts, Nov. 8, 1991). Both versions splendidly render this period work accessible to contemporary readers. Ages 6-8.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 3-- A good poet overshadowed by great ones (his brother-in-law, Coleridge, and his neighbor, Wordsworth), Southey is remembered--if at all--for "The Battle of Blenheim," over a century ahead of its time. Few realize that he introduced "The Three Bears" and wrote over 40 volumes of poetry and prose. Perhaps this volume will send editors and illustrators scurrying after his copyright-free stuff, because it is a jolly romp of a winner: it dances, it sings. The poem brings the cataract (waterfall) alive, moving from dactyl dimeter "It runs through the reeds . . .," picking up speed in trimeter, "And sounding and bounding and rounding . . .," and catapulting into tetrameter, "And rushing and flushing and brushing and gushing . . ." imitating its subject. Gerstein does sparkling cartoons in brilliant, frothy colors. When the rhyme and the cataract gather force and speed up, the characters tumble down vertical double-page spreads. Children will enjoy turning the book to follow the falls. Everyone should enjoy this; it's fun to read aloud, fun to look at, and teachers who are stuck with Poe and Vachel Lindsay when teaching onomatopoeia will find it a welcome relief. --Helen Gregory, Grosse Pointe Public Library, MI
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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