The Baron Rides Out

Retells Baron Munchausen's boastful account of his amazing adventures as he travels around the world.

Grade 2-4 Tall tales are wonderful paths that lead to thoughts about the relativity of Truth. The Baron's are harmless fun, pure art in their outrageous matter-of-factness. The four or five short adventures retold here in economical but not patronizing prose offer the illustrator a tempting opportunity to supply the melodramatic content. Benson does so with verve, using ink lines and transparent watercolors to depict a Ceylonese jungle with appropriate birds and monkeys as well as a terrifying giant alligator and an enormous leaping lion. The Jack Benny look on the Baron's face as he's squeezed by a giant Peter the Great exemplifies the mastery of gesture and expression that Benson commands. And the details of ducks and chicks at the patched-up water trough when the horse tries to drink his fill demonstrate this illustrator's skill in making details extend the text's telling. Endpapers and a delightful tongue-in-cheek double-spread title page add considerably to the total experience. For those who enjoy our Paul Bunyan, this German teller of tall tales will be a special delight. Kenneth Marantz, Art Education Department, Ohio State University, Columbus
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.