Beauty and the Serpent: Thirteen Tales of Unnatural Animals - Hardcover

Porte, Barbara Ann

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0689841477 ISBN 13: 9780689841477

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 2001

Synopsis

Students who break the rules at Ernestine Wilde Alternative High School get sent to see Ms. Lavinia Drumm, the librarian. Tall and exotically dressed, wearing strange jewelry and voluminous shawls, and holding a carved shillelagh, Ms. Drumm is known for her uncanny storytelling. She bangs her shillelagh, sits atop a table, and begins her tales: of a boy who comes to an untimely end when he tries to teach crows to talk; of a woman who may actually be a fox; of a child who joins a family of cats below an escalator. These stories, bold and evocative -- and full of fur, feathers, and scales -- are stunningly original, yet embrace traditional and folk motifs. Barbara Ann Porte, who is known for her superb storytelling, is in top form with this new collection of inventive tales paired with Rosemary Feit Covey's dramatic wood engravings.

About this title

About the Author:

Barbara Ann Porte is the author of many books for adults, teens, and children, including the young adult novel Something Terrible Happened; the chapter book Fat Fanny, Beanpole Bertha, and the Boys; and for younger readers, If You Ever Get Lost: The Adventures of Julia and Evan. Critics have praised her for her skillful storytelling, lively dialogue, convincing characterization, and humor. Her books have been named ALA Notable Books for Children and Best Books for Young Adults and American Booksellers Association "Picks of the Lists," among other honors. A storyteller and a former head of the Children's Services Division of the Nassau Library System, New York, Barbara Ann Porte lives in Arlington, Virginia.

From School Library Journal:

Gr 6-10-The author and illustrator of Hearsay: Strange Tales from the Middle Kingdom (Greenwillow, 1998) team up again with this collection of eerie animal tales. The stage is set and the tales are worked within the framework of a high-school library. Ms. Lavinia Drumm, the eccentric librarian, presents most of the material, though she is joined occasionally by colleagues or students who are inspired to offer their own accounts. Puppies from hell, escalator-dwelling cats, murderous crows, and a coma-inducing snake tattoo with a life of its own are all a part of this macabre menagerie. There is nothing warm and fuzzy about these stories, even when the creatures act as protectors and friends. When they are riled up and become predators, the stories become downright gruesome. Many of the selections conclude with an allusion to details that intimate that the events may actually have happened, adding to the evocative, unsettling nature of the tales. Though many employ elements and motifs from folklore around the world, each treatment is original and is elaborated in vivid language, in the best manner of a master storyteller. The book is reminiscent of Judith Gorog's No Swimming in Dark Pond (Philomel, 1987; o.p.) and other collections; readers may find themselves shivering and smiling simultaneously, mulling over the plausibility of the plots and delighting in the sly undertone of a wicked wit. The richly textured woodcut illustrations in black and white perfectly underscore the darkness and depth of the stories.

Starr LaTronica, Four County Library System, Vestal, NY

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0689841477
• ISBN 13: 9780689841477
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 128
• Illustrator: Covey Rosemary Feit