8/9/2019 PW on CROW by Leo Timmers: "thoughtful"

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/pw-on-crow-by-leo-timmers-thoughtful 1/1P U B L I S H E R S W E E K LY ■ A U G U S T 2 3 , 2 0 1 046

Review_CHILDREN’S

crown you have...” says a “thoroughly

confused” wolf, dressed up like Red Rid-

ing Hood’s grandmother). Allwright car-

ries through the under-construction

theme with pages laid out on graph paper

and digital scraps that peel back to reveal

additional story elements; she draws the

characters with a friendly retro touch.

Lewis handles her no-story story with

sparkle, and children will enjoy the feel-

ing of having avoided the king’s wrath.

Ages 3–7. (Sept.)

Papa’s Pastries

Charles Toscano, illus. by Sonja Lamut. 

Zonderkidz, $15.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-310-

71602-0

Effective use of repetition and a pleas-

ing rhythm invigorate debut author

Toscano’s predictable but touching tale

about the rewards of faith and neighborly

compassion. When Miguel accompanies

his Papa on a day’s journey to three vil-

lages, people respond to Papa’s singing

with joyful dancing, but cannot afford his

homemade pastries. Lamut’s (Thanksgiv-

ing Is for Giving Thanks) full-bleed water-

colors set earth-toned hues against pale

blue-gray washes, while alternating half-

spread paintings are framed against white

backgrounds. The illustrations, which de-

pict thin, barefoot, ragged villagers weav-

ing, transporting wood, and selling vari-

ous goods, effectively convey communal

warmth and industry against a backdrop

of poverty and looming fear. After giving

away all their goods, Miguel and Papa re-

turn empty-handed to their broken-down

hut, where the distraught, hungry faces of 

Miguel’s siblings capture the emotional

and physical cost of Papa’s generosity.

However, the story’s moral, delivered by

Papa—“Kindness is far more valuable

than money”—proves true as the recipi-

ents arrive with generous offerings of 

their own the next day. Papa’s morningprayer and Miguel’s evening prayer frame

the story, demonstrating the passage of 

faith from one generation to another.

Ages 4–7. (Sept.)

H There’s a Princess in the

Palace: Five Classic Tales

Zoë B. Alley, illus. by R.W. Alley. Roaring 

Brook/Porter, $19.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-59643-

471-4

Like their 2008 collection The Wolf at 

the Door , with which this volume shares

its oversize format, the Alleys’ panel-art

versions of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty,

 Snow White, The Frog Prince, and The

 Princess and the Peaare part retelling,

part parody. Knit together with some

creative genealogy, the stories downplay

beauty and romance and concentrate on

feisty dialogue. Two mice provide run-

ning commentary—“Don’t you think

she might need to brush after being

asleep for so long?” one asks about Sleep-

ing Beauty. Earlier, one asks, “Shouldn’t

the Prince love Cinderella no matter

what she’s wearing or who she is?” “Of 

course,” replies the other, “but she

doesn’t know that yet!” R.W. Alley

packs plenty of action into diminutivepanels, and the figures’ comic facial ex-

pressions provoke giggles without re-

sorting to grotesquerie. “I recently read

in Better Moats and Gardens that a true 

princess could never be comfy sleeping

on top of even such a small lump as

this!” says the queen, with a conspirato-

rial glance at the camera; readers can

practically hear her voice. This will enter

the rotation of bedtime favorites. Ages

4–8. (Sept.)

A pair of crows, each with expressive eyes and over-size beaks, star in a pair of thoughtful picture books.

Crow

Leo Timmers. Clavis (IPG, dist.), $16.95

(28p) ISBN 978-1-60537-071-2

Timmers (Who’s Driving?) tells this be-

yourself story with disciplined visual clari-

ty. The action unfolds against a background

of white on a black telephone wire that

spans each spread. The blank backdrop fo-

cuses attention on the ungainly misfit

Crow (“What’s wrong with me?” he asks), perched on the left, and

three much smaller birds perched on the right. (“He’s pitch-black

from top to toe,” Finch says, inching away. “Must be a mean crea-

ture,” adds Chickadee self-righteously.) Timmers paints Crow’s

mangy feathers and outsize beak with care, giving him a dignity

that suggests a figure on a totem pole. Crow plots to paint himself 

to look like each of the smaller birds in turn so they’ll like him, but

he terrifies them instead; when tears of despair wash his paint away,

the three small birds conclude that he’s driven off those awful big

birds: “You have scared them away with your burly black beak and

your dark feathers!” Finch gushes. It’s a story with a single punch

line, but Timmers tells it with polish and style. Ages 3–5. (Oct.)

Little Black Crow

Chris Raschka. Atheneum/Jackson, $16.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-689-

84601-4

Surrounded by blurry blue watercolor skies and wheat-

brown daubs suggestive of autumn fields, a boy sits on a rail

fence and talks to a small crow. At first, his rhyming questions

seem simple: “Little black crow, where do you go?/ Where do

you go in the cold white snow?” As the queries continue, read-

ers may begin to consider the mysterious outdoor lives of ani-

mals and the things humans take for granted. The boy asks, “Is

it enough to have feathers in all kinds of weathers?” as blue and

brown slashes of rain whip around the crow. The crow, inked

with an enormous beak and a comparatively tiny body, seems

to grin but offers no reply. The boy also wonders about the

crow’s family (“Are you a boy like me?”) and asks whether the

crow might love “the little gray dove”

perched next to him on a power line.

Caldecott Medalist Raschka (The Hello

Goodbye Window) leaves the questions

unanswered and pictures the curious

crow landing next to the boy at the close

of this thought-provoking, nature-cen-

tered reflection. Ages 4–7. (Aug.)

Reading Crows