luann's review
2.0
This is another picture book more suited for older children, mostly just due to the length of the text. John Steptoe wrote the text (retold from a Native American legend) and drew the illustrations. The illustrations won a Caldecott honor in 1985.
I thought the illustrations were just okay. I didn't like them nearly as much as Steptoe's illustrations for [b:Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale|845403|Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters An African Tale|John Steptoe|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178846920s/845403.jpg|94898]. I think I would have liked the illustrations better in color. I didn't dislike them, but I didn't find them particularly memorable, either.
I'd never heard this particular Native American legend before, so I came away with several questions. Why is the frog magic? When the frog gave the mouse the power to jump, did he lose that power himself? Why does the power to do magic transfer from the frog to the mouse? At the end, Maybe these aren't the types of questions you can really ask when you're reading a legend. Let's just say this one didn't make a whole lot of sense to me.
I thought the illustrations were just okay. I didn't like them nearly as much as Steptoe's illustrations for [b:Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale|845403|Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters An African Tale|John Steptoe|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178846920s/845403.jpg|94898]. I think I would have liked the illustrations better in color. I didn't dislike them, but I didn't find them particularly memorable, either.
I'd never heard this particular Native American legend before, so I came away with several questions. Why is the frog magic? When the frog gave the mouse the power to jump, did he lose that power himself? Why does the power to do magic transfer from the frog to the mouse? At the end,
Spoiler
why does the jumping mouse turn into an eagle? Something to do with his unselfish spirit of hope and compassion? I don't see the connection. Is he then going to eat other mice? Isn't that what eagles do?
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