THE LEGEND OF SLAPPY HOOPER: An American Tall Tale
AARON SHEPARD (illus. Toni Goffe)
Skyhook Press (non-affiliate Bookshop.org link)
$25.00 hardcover, $15.00 paperback
Rating: 4.5* of five
The Publisher Says: WINNER OF THE 2024 AESOP PRIZE FROM THE AMERICAN FOLKLORE SOCIETY
You'd better believe Slappy Hooper was the world's biggest, fastest, bestest sign painter. He was bestest because no one else ever made pictures so true to life. But some folks said they were too good when the pictures started coming alive!
Will Slappy have to give up sign painting for good? Or will a couple of timely jobs from the Heavenly Sign Company let him climb to even greater heights? Find out in this delightful tall tale from mid-20th-century Chicago.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: Charming, slight tale about an extraordinary guy who impresses everyone with his skills.
Honestly, it's a tale for lap-readers and story hour at the library. I don't care for the art too much. The spreads are well designed to go with the text, and the images aren't outside the realm of reason the way comic-book images can be:
...I'm just not feelin' it. I'll show you some more:
But there are exceptions to the sameyness:
...and there's a lovely payoff to end us up right. I liked the story fine, think your preschool nibling or grand will too, and the parents won't hate it.
Quite the farewell!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
THE CRYSTAL HEART: A Vietnamese Legend
AARON SHEPARD (illus. Joseph Daniel Fiedler)
Skyhook Press (non-affiliate Bookshop.org link)
$25.00 hardcover, $15.00 paperback, available now
Rating: 5* of five
The Publisher Says: As the daughter of a great mandarin, Mi Nuong leads a sheltered life. But one day, sitting in her tower, a song floats to her from a distant fishing boat on the river.
"My love is like a blossom in the breeze.The voice is so beautiful, she knows the singer must be young and handsome—perhaps even a mandarin's son in disguise. Could it be that the song is for her? She longs to meet him, but how? And what will she find if she does?
My love is like a moonbeam on the waves."
In this poignant legend, a young lady discovers that appearances can deceive, but the heart speaks true.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: A folktale about self-deception and how easy it is to leave it to externalities to guide us. Being careful what you ask for, lest you get it, is a lesson that can never be repeated often enough.
We're with a ranking official, a man of substance in his community whose marriageable daughter harrbors romantic illusuions as she contemplates beginning her life:
As time passes and impending marriage occupies her mind more and more, she hears a beautiful song in her tower fastness, a song of piercing musical and lyrical beauty, again and again. It obsesses her, consumes her, as thoughts of her marriage to a mandarin's son...quite a step up...meld with the beautiful voice. She consults oracles to see if she will marry a man with beauty like that she hears.
Omens must always be interpreted...so of course, we know what happens.
Does it all work out?
Yes; and no.
Nothing on this Earth is forever; no ending is not also a beginning.
Excellent lessons for young girls most especially in this culture that orders them to consider men their dreams, or their paths to getting dreams in reality. It's not like that, but it's not all bad.
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