The Horn Book Guide

PICTURE BOOKS

Strete, Craig Kee

The Lost Boy and the Monster

32 pp. | Putnam | May, 1999 | Trade ISBN 0-399-22922-1 $$15.99

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Steve Johnson & Lou Fancher. This original tale about a boy repaid for his kindness to a rattlesnake and a scorpion employs familiar folkloric motifs. Patterned after American Indian art, the illustrations feature the deep earth tones of the Southwestern desert. The narrative tone is succinct and direct, with touches of humor and occasional rhetorical flourishes, all of which make this a good candidate for the storyteller's repertoire.

Reviewer: Nancy Vasilakis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 1999