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32 pp.
| Harcourt
| May, 2011
|
TradeISBN 978-0-15-216596-3$16.99
(2)
K-3
Crocodile informs Monkey that he plans to eat his heart. Quick-thinking Monkey replies, "What a pity. I left it up in the tree!" Despite his size, Crocodile is no match for ingenious Monkey. McDermott uses paint and paper collage, shredding the edges of the brown paper to create a furry look for Monkey. An opening note explains more about the story and the art.
32 pp.
| Harcourt
| April, 2009
|
TradeISBN 978-0-15-216590-1$16.00
(2)
K-3
Pig-Boy (an embodiment of shape-shifter Kamapua'a) is a winsome, soft-purple piglet with a bristly back and dirty snout whose appetite leads to trouble: namely, eating the king's chickens. McDermott's simple figures--set off by swaths of brilliant tropical greens and blues on heavy watercolor paper that provides texture--have a strength that doesn't detract from their humor or from the liveliness of Pig-Boy's mischief.
32 pp.
| Dutton
| September, 2003
|
TradeISBN 0-525-46905-2$$16.99
(1)
K-3
Citing the inspiration of many creation myths, McDermott retells the first chapter of Genesis. The large square book opens to generous horizontal spreads, shadowed dark giving way to textured gray and, as earth begins to support life and heaven's lights are differentiated, brighter and brighter color. Both language and art are distinguished by a powerful simplicity, appropriate to the story itself and for younger children.
Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
September, 2003
32 pp.
| Harcourt
| September, 2001
|
TradeISBN 0-15-200496-3$$16.00
(3)
K-3
In this retelling of a South American folktale, Jabutà the Tortoise wants to play his flute for the King of Heaven and Vulture offers to give him a ride, but on the way there, jealous Vulture drops him and breaks his shell. The other birds put Jabutà back together. The telling is clean and well shaped, and the iconic artwork uses large geometric blocks against vivid pink skies.
(3)
K-3
Fox invites Stork to share his soup, but he serves it on a shallow plate from which she cannot drink. Stork, however, turns the tables on him and serves soup in a tall jar accessible only to her long beak. The moral: "being kind to others is the right thing to do." The simple but expressive illustrations are a good accompaniment to this retelling of an old fable.