Picture Books, March 2009

The Dancing Man
by Ruth Bornstein

With mediocre illustrations and a sappy plot, I was underwhelmed by Bornstein’s book. A boy is given a pair of silver dancing shoes by a Dancing Man he meets on the beach, then leaves his peasant’s life in Eastern Europe to bring joy to the world by dancing. Blah.

The Mysterious Tadpole
by Steven Kellogg

Awesome. A boy gets a birthday present from his uncle who lives in Scotland – a small, strangely-colored tadpole that, yes, grows up into a Loch Ness monster. The boy has to find increasingly bigger places to fit the tadpole as it grows, which is a bit like the first Clifford book, but the story and illustrations were still fun.

Detective Bob and the Great Ape Escape
by David L. Harrison

Suck. Bad story told in poor Dr. Seuss-type rhymes with horrible illustrations.

Sir Orfeo
by Anthea Davis

I’d never heard the story of Sir Orfeo before, and although the author does a tolerable job of retelling it for children, the illustrations were what made the book enjoyable. I almost want to go buy my own copy.

The Ghost-Eye Tree
by Bill Martin, Jr.

I’ve decided that I don’t particularly care for stories told in rhymes, or presented in poetry at all. This book, about a boy and his sister who have to go get a pail of milk for their mom, made me wonder why the mother sent them out at night…and why the author wrote the book at all…