Reviews: (by author)

(4 reviews)

Bunting, Eve. Night of the Gargoyles. Illus. David Wiesner. New York: Clarion,1999. Paperback.

Night of the Gargoyles may very well be one of the highest quality picture books that have come out of the U.S. in the last five years. Textually, the piece is simple and poetic. Bunting's prose is gentle and the use of rhyming couplets contrast, with great effect, both the harsh severity of Wiesner's illustrations and the mature subject matter. The piece, in the tradition of gothic horror novels (Dracula, Frankenstein, Hunchback of Notre Dame) is resplendent with medieval imagery and gothic secrecy. Night of the Gargoyles explores the underbelly of a gothic town at night where Gargoyles from every building come to life to congregate around water fountains and trees to stretch their limbs, have a drink of water, and spook any citizens who cross their path, as a retaliation for their eternal fate to serve as ornamental statues. As dawn breaks every morning, they take their spots upon their respective buildings and freeze into stone to endure yet another hot day.

David Wiesner's illustrations of a band of gargoyles that awake at night to gallivant among around in an unnamed European town are riveting, haunting, and awe-inspiring. These illustrations are so incredibly powerful that they could easily stand on their own. One can spend five to ten minutes alone examining the details found upon each and every page. Each illustration is superlatively rich in its multiple presentation of events. The teacher of literature would do well in utilizing the illustrations both as comprehension and pre-reading source material prior to reading each page.

Unfortunately, one is left with the feeling that something is amiss. The enchantment of the exquisite illustrations, depicting full moons and flying gargoyles, are not enough to carry the piece. We lack a connection to these beasts. The lack of conflict in plot structure is ineffective in creating a reader-text connection. The story of their nightly awakenings is simply inadequate. Yet, I recommend its presence in any fourth or fifth grade classroom as there are so many picture books that undermine our children's intelligence, tastes, and interests. Kids love spooky tales, and this piece would certainly draw interest during individualized or group reading hours. It is unparalleled in its quality of illustration and subject matter.

Farhang Pernoon Nov. '02

 

Bunting, Eve. Illustrated by Ted Rand. The Memory String. New York: Clarion Books, 2000. ISBN 0-395-86146-2. $ 15.00

Nauseatingly sweet story about a girl who resents her new stepmother. Banal and predictable. Unimaginative illustrations that only serve a decorative purpose, without adding anything to the narrative.

Reviewed by Maria Nikolajeva

 

Bunting, Eve. Illustrated by David Diaz. Smoky Night. San Diego: Harcourt Brace 1994

This 1995 Caldecott Medal winner is a powerful story about a boy named Daniel who witnesses an ugly side of society. A riot breaks out in his neighborhood, and looters rob businesses, and eventually set fire to the building in which he lives. Nevertheless, something good comes out of the terrible situation he experiences: he learns that people can come together during a desperate time of need--and enemies can become friends, if they put their differences aside, and get to know one another. Eve Bunting's writing is very good, and the unique artwork by David Diaz is impressive. This is a story every young child should read.

Recommended grade levels for reading: grades 1-2. (P.S.)

 

Bunting, Eve. Illus. Chris K. Soentpiet. So Far From The Sea. New York: Clarion Books, 1998. $15.

This moving book directly confronts the human outfall of one of America's shabbiest moments, the relocation of tens of thousands of Japanese-Americans to camps like Manzanar, the setting Bunting uses. The first-person narration by young Laura and the alternating color and black-and-white illustrations (color for personalized family scenes, b-&-w for photograph-like wide shots of the camp--barbed wire, guards) combine in a very powerful presentation. The young narrator and her family have returned to Manzanar to visit the grandfather's grave. The poor fellow, a tuna fisherman, wound up buried in the California desert. A thoughtful book about the small and deep consequences of mindless government action and societal prejudice, it opens into many kinds of classroom and family discussions. A.A.

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