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Before long Wilbur stumbles upon fantastical creatures that are in trouble and, trying to be heroic, comes to their aid. First he waters a wilted bush of blossoming butterflies, then frees a crab the size of an island from a net, and next, saves a school of light bulb fish from marauding earwig pirates. Still, the boy doesn't feel very grand, and the snail is nowhere to be seen. But as Wilbur drifts into treacherous waters toward World's End, he discovers that he'd much rather be a Gallant Captain than someone who chains down another creature. Majestic in size (the book is over a foot tall and nearly 11 inches wide), Base's story looks like it was cast from magic. Epic, lush paintings capture the boy's larger-than-life imagination and by book's end have you soaring vicariously through clouds.
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Add this book to your collection: Dust Devil and Swamp Angel (Caldecott Honor Book) by Anne Isaacs and Paul O. Zelinsky
By: Betsy Bird,
on 8/26/2010
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If Pippi Longstocking is a redhead known for her casual legwear, Angelica Longrider (or just “Angel” for short) would have to be considered her blatantly barefoot ginger-headed equivalent. When the Anne Isaacs Caldecott Honor winning picture book Swamp Angel took the stage back in 1994 it was cause for celebration. Here you had an honest-to-goodness new tall tale with a vernacular smart enough to match the pictures, and vice versa. The pairing of Anne Isaacs with Caldecott winner Paul O. Zelinsky was inspired. I was a big fan, yet for some reason I never considered that the book might garner a sequel. Clearly it was ripe for it, but Isaacs and Zelinsky pursued other projects and the thought was all but forgotten. Until now. After 16 years the dynamic duo is back. She’s a wordsmith. He likes to kill himself by painting on wood. Clearly, Dust Devil was meant to be.
Having found Tennessee a bit too cramped to suit her, giantess and all around decent gal Angelica Longrider (“Swamp Angel” to some) has headed further into the country to set up shop in Montana. It takes a little settling in, but she’s happy enough and even manages to tame a wild dust storm into a steed worthy of her skills. Good thing too, since that nasty Backward Bart and his band of no goodniks are terrorizing the countryside, robbing good people of their pennies. If she could wrestle a bear into submission, Angel certainly can handle a couple of toughs. But it’ll take smarts as well as skills to put these nasty bandits away. Good thing she’s got her horse.
The first thing you need to know about Anne Isaacs is the fact that her books, all her books, ache to be read aloud. It doesn’t matter if you’re perusing Pancakes for Supper or The Ghosts of Luckless Gulch. Now sometimes they’re a bit too long for storytimes (much to my chagrin) but for one-on-one reading they’re the tops. I mean, there are certain sentences that just beg you to try them on your tongue. Sentences like, “The barn began to shake, the ground to quake, the windows to break, the animals to wake, and everyone’s ears to ache!” Fear not, this isn’t a rhyming text. There are just certain sections where it’s the right thing to do.
While you’re rolling her sentences around in your mouth, there are also Zelinsky’s images to contend with. Painting on cedar and aspen veneer, Zelinsky is meticulous about his process. The result is a book that is rather achingly beautiful. Even if you don’t take to his style, you have to respect the process. The size of the images combined with the tiniest of brush
And let the record show that Mr. Zelinsky is the only illustrator of Rumplestiltskin I’ve ever seen learn how a spinning wheel actually WORKS in his gorgeous illustrations of that story (where you’ll recall time passes like a medieval manuscript/stained glass window, with the faithful nurse showing up in three or four spots of the same picture.)
This is great news. SA was one of my favorites. A perfect pairing of art and story.
Another lovely review, Betsy. I don’t know how you do it. Will Zelinsky be eligible for the Caldecott with this book given the 2006 Atheneum edition? http://openlibrary.org/works/OL1839655W/Dust_devil
I’m pretty sure that Atheneum edition may be a typo of some sort. To my knowledge, Paul has always worked with Schwartz & Wade on this book. Then again, Swamp Angel was a Dutton book (an imprint of Penguin). Atheneum is a Simon & Schuster imprint so where do they fit into all this? Strange. Regardless, I’m fairly confident that the only time a physical copy of this book has existed is in 2010. So I’m fairly confident it’s eligible.
I need to brag that I saw all the original art at Paul’s studio (not too far from mine). Spectacular!