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…

Death Comes for the Archbishop

by Willa Cather

When I was a lot younger, I went to Santa Fe with my dad and a few siblings. On the drive there, my dad mentioned that much of Willa Cather’s novel Death Comes for the Archbishop was set in New Mexico and in Santa Fe particularly. Being young and somewhat ignorant, I assumed, from the title, that the book was some sort of intriguing murder thriller set in the early days of Santa Fe.

This delusion continued through the years, and I finally picked up a copy at the library last month. I was more than halfway through the book when I finally admitted to myself that there would be no murder and no thrill in the plot. Turning to the Romgi one evening as I read, I asked, “Judging by the title of this book, what do you think it’s about?” He looked at the title and cover and replied, “Probably the story of a person’s life. In the Southwest.”

(He was entirely right…I felt rather dumb.)

So, yes, the book is really just about the Archbishop. Death doesn’t come for him until the end of the book, when he dies of old age. I’m a little bit disappointed, since I honestly and truly thought I was sitting down to an exciting plot. It was actually rather dull. Sorry, Willa Cather.

(Please don’t mock my stupidity. I already feel foolish enough.)