Grandma Chickenlegs (Picture Books) - Softcover

Geraldine McCaughrean is the author of Princess Stories, Beauty and the Beast, and Too Big. She is the winner of the Carnegie medal, the Children's Fiction award, The Whitbread Prize and the Beefeater Award. She lives in Berkshire. * Moira Kemp has created a number of board books and novelty titles, which have won her worldwide recognition. She lives in Twickenham.

PreSchool-Grade 3-A droll and utterly delightful retelling of "Baba Yaga," the Russian folklore equivalent of Cinderella. McCaughrean has changed the names but the plot details remain largely the same. After Tatia's mother dies, her father marries a vain and selfish woman with two daughters. While he is away, the stepmother sends Tatia to the witch Grandma Chickenlegs on the ruse of borrowing a needle. But rather than becoming the witch's dinner as the stepmother had hoped, the child's kindness results in her escape. Once home, she finds that her father has returned. He sends his wife and her daughters away and the two live happily ever after. With its emphasis on description and imagery, McCaughrean's text retains much of the flavor of traditional folklore. But as strong as the text is, it is Kemp's full-page colored-pencil illustrations that steal the show. Using a style that is a pleasing mix of realism and impressionism, the artist captures the fantasy inherent in the tale. With their vivid greens, reds, oranges, and blues, the lively art jumps off the page. The depictions of Grandma Chickenlegs are particularly marvelous. With her bouffant hair, bat eyeglasses, and striped stockings, this witch is more comic than threatening. Unlike other picture-book versions of this tale-Marianna Mayer's Baba Yaga & Vasilisa the Brave (Morrow, 1994) comes to mind-this one is ideally suited for younger children.
Denise Anton Wright, Alliance Library System, Bloomington, IL
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