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Delessert, Etienne
9 Reviews
(4)
K-3
The narrator watches as his cat drives a car pulling some unusual cargo. Three dead European writers, a black swan and some dwarfs, a snow globe filled with butterflies, for example--and each group asks him a question. The dreamlike narrative may mystify young readers, but the illustrations, most double-page spreads with absurdist touches, arrest the eye and activate the imagination.
Reviewer: Amy Lois Cohn
(3)
K-3
Delessert describes his relationship with his stepmother, from the time she entered his life until her death at ninety-two. Death is a fine subject for children's books, and Delessert's telling is tender, but some content herein--e.g., he describes a fight during which his stepmother threw a glass at him--is rather disturbing. The expressive painterly art invites contemplation.
Reviewer: Nell Beram
(4)
K-3
Spartacus, a web-spinning-challenged spider, is embarrassed and hungry. When he hears about scientists' experiments to weave unbreakable cables, he adapts the idea to strengthen his web. But as he imagines the ramifications of the web's strength, he's scared and returns to his old ways. The engaging oversize illustrations play with perspective in this story with a preachy conclusion.
Reviewer: Gail Hedges
(3)
K-3
A young stagehand describes watering the stars, painting the flowers black, teaching wild dogs to howl, and performing other tasks to ready a stage for the moon, into which he climbs every night before it's hoisted up to position. The idea that the moon's regular appearance is a theatrical show will engage readers' imaginations. Each painterly spread--some soothing, others foreboding--merits contemplation.
Reviewer: Nell Beram
(3)
K-3
Delessert puts his own spin on the story of the wolf and the three pigs. Some cats trick the wolf, saving the pigs and other animals as well. The nightmarish wolf who "grew taller than the midnight moon" fills the large pages. Selective use of orange, red, and yellow alongside the browns and grays of the animals adds to the menace.
Reviewer: Amy Kellman
(4)
K-3
Seven of Delessert's recognizable round-featured creatures represent the colors of the rainbow. Each appears in a double-page spread comparing the color to an object. Most work well ("green like grass") but some ("indigo like dye") are a stretch, and explanations of black and white ("a black surface absorbs all colors") aren't entirely clear. Some color-mixing theory is also demonstrated.
Reviewer: Patricia Riley
(4)
K-3
Ten hungry creatures are shown in sequence holding pieces of fruit. The cheery, odd monsters are softly hued, and the fruit is depicted realistically, showing seeds, colors, and textures. Overall the text is a bit of a letdown ("We are hungry!" and "What fun!" are the only non-counting-related words), but the visually striking presentation will capture readers' imaginations.
Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke
(3)
K-3
Three verses have been dropped from this playful version of the English ballad in which Cock Robin is killed, mourned, and buried by his avian friends. In the imaginatively envisioned illustrations, the initial and final spreads reveal the birds to be a party of costumed children. The uncluttered design works well with the spare text and oversize illustrations.
Reviewer: Carolyn Shute
(2)
1-3
This is a gently paternal account of how Snow White came to the house of the seven dwarfs, and how she left. Dwarf Stephane recalls Snow White's story on the occasion of the dwarfs' invitation to her wedding to the prince. The lengthy text has momentum and grace; the pictures, restrained but well detailed, have tenderness and humor.
Reviewer: Roger Sutton
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
January, 2002
9 reviews
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