Synopsis
When the witch of Crookhaven, a village on the zigzagging coast of Ireland, has her horse stolen by the King and strikes back with famine and disaster, Kate decides to save the day by getting the horse back for her.
Reviews
Grade 1-5-Feisty Kate O'Sullivan may daydream some of the time, but she knows when action is needed. When tax collectors visit her Irish village and steal the witch's red stallion, the girl tries to enlist the help of the townsfolk, who shrug their shoulders and declare that their neighbor isn't one of them. The witch goes "into a snit," all sorts of disasters occur, and food becomes scarce. Kate prods her father and brothers into action and they set off to steal the stallion back. Caught by the king and threatened with hanging, Kate saves each family member by telling a clever story. The horse is returned, and the O'Sullivans are set free, whereupon they go home to celebrate. When the king arrives at Kate's doorstep to declare his love, she says that she might marry him in five years, after she has some of her own adventures. Kate is a lively, take-charge heroine and Talbott's colorful illustrations capture her spirit perfectly, whether her hair is standing on end as she sneezes a mighty "AAAA CHOOO" or her eyes mirror innocent pleasure as she turns down the king's proposal. This is not a simple tale, but the pictures and text work so well together that the events move along with ease. Full of broad and subtle humor, the story will be a read-aloud favorite, but it also has much to offer children who like to pore over detailed illustrations and daydream about other worlds.
Barbara Scotto, Michael Driscoll School, Brookline, MA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
A witch, sea serpent, giant, fairies and wild beasts are among the staples in Talbott's (We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story; Amazon Diary) bubbly story, set on the coast of Ireland. Trouble begins when the king's soldiers lay claim to a stallion belonging to the local witch and her neighbors do nothing to help. With the witch in a snit, fishnets come up empty, cows refuse to give milk and gardens die. To save the village from starvation, feisty Kate O'Sullivan convinces her father and brothers to accompany her to the king's palace to steal back the horse. Their bumbling attempt fails and the clan is brought before the ruler, who agrees to spare Kate's life if she tells him a story that proves that she has been in a "worse spot" before. The heroine duly impresses the monarch with her descriptive flashbacks to a prior, enticingly preposterous close call, then rescues her kin with stories about them. Several clever turns of plot add spice to this appetizing concoction. Like his narrative, Talbott's high-spirited art occasionally approaches the slapstick, as when a band of "demonic" cats huddles around Kate's brother, their eyes gleaming and their teeth exposed in wicked grins, singing a screechy version of "Danny Boy" to "earn" their supper from the frightened lad. Visually and verbally inventive in its details and its broader storytelling, this one is a shiny shamrock. Ages 5-up.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Clever Kate O'Sullivan cooks up a feast of family stories to save her and her kins' lives. When the king's men snatch away a beloved horse from an outcast witch, and the Crookhaven community fails to take action, brave Kate, her father, and two brothers come to the rescue; they are caught trying to steal the horse back, and sentenced to hang. Kate knows their only chance of survival is for her to unleash her secret weapon of storytelling. She spins her enchanting--and hilarious--yarns of giants, monsters, leprechauns, and a pack of tone-deaf cats, and one by one, the king lets each O'Sullivan off the hook. Kate's sense of fairness, the refreshing, feminist ending, and the offbeat humor give the old-fashioned tales a grandly modern flair. Talbott's illustrations are just as fanciful and fun; story and pictures are bound to charm an audience just as they captivate the king. (Picture book. 5-8) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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