Overview
Named an ALA Notable Children's Book and featured on many "Best of the Year" lists, this charming picture book, acclaimed for its superb storytelling and brilliant art, is now available in paperback.Cloaked in black, Death has come to call on Colin the shoemaker. Thinking quickly, Colin notices that Death is barefoot and offers to make him some shoes. Death, completely befuddled, is fitted for sandals (as they'll go best with his robe) and leaves. Each time Death comes to call on Colin, he leaves with a sole, but never the one he intended. At last, Colin knows he has made Death every kind of shoe possible. What will happen when Death knocks on his door again?
A shoemaker repeatedly outwits a black-robed figure who knocks on the shoemaker's door and demands his soul.
Synopsis
Named an ALA Notable Children's Book and featured on many "Best of the Year" lists, this charming picture book, acclaimed for its superb storytelling and brilliant art, is now available in paperback.
Cloaked in black, Death has come to call on Colin the shoemaker. Thinking quickly, Colin notices that Death is barefoot and offers to make him some shoes. Death, completely befuddled, is fitted for sandals (as they'll go best with his robe) and leaves. Each time Death comes to call on Colin, he leaves with a sole, but never the one he intended. At last, Colin knows he has made Death every kind of shoe possible. What will happen when Death knocks on his door again?
Publishers Weekly
Colin the cobbler outwits the Grim Reaper in this giggly, clever twist on an old folktale. When the black-robed stranger (who vaguely resembles Edvard Munch's subject in The Scream) knocks on the door, Colin thinks fast. "Have you ever noticed," he says to Death, "that your feet hurt after work?" Death doesn't have a chance as Colin snatches his list of names and makes a shoe pattern (in a coffin shape) out of it. Bateman's (The Merbaby) shoemaker hero mixes shrewdness and compassion with solid fashion sense: "Yes, of course, black. Something that will blend in nicely with the robe." In his acrylic paintings brushed in warm, smudged colors, Yayo tucks dry jokes into nearly every corner. Death's face is flat white, but when he gets cold, his nose morphs into a little thermometer; his toenails have skulls on them. The cobbler goes on distracting Death by making him boots for cold weather and walking shoes so comfortable that the caped gent leaps over cemetery gravestones in a single bound. When Death comes once again for Colin's soul-this time, for real, readers may fear-Colin says, "And what do you think I've been giving you all these many years?... I've given you sole after sole." Even young readers who don't understand the verbal pun will note that the teeth in Death's grinning mouth are shaped like little boots. Ages 6-10. (Mar.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Colin the cobbler outwits the Grim Reaper in this giggly, clever twist on an old folktale. When the black-robed stranger (who vaguely resembles Edvard Munch's subject in The Scream) knocks on the door, Colin thinks fast. "Have you ever noticed," he says to Death, "that your feet hurt after work?" Death doesn't have a chance as Colin snatches his list of names and makes a shoe pattern (in a coffin shape) out of it. Bateman's (The Merbaby) shoemaker hero mixes shrewdness and compassion with solid fashion sense: "Yes, of course, black. Something that will blend in nicely with the robe." In his acrylic paintings brushed in warm, smudged colors, Yayo tucks dry jokes into nearly every corner. Death's face is flat white, but when he gets cold, his nose morphs into a little thermometer; his toenails have skulls on them. The cobbler goes on distracting Death by making him boots for cold weather and walking shoes so comfortable that the caped gent leaps over cemetery gravestones in a single bound. When Death comes once again for Colin's soul-this time, for real, readers may fear-Colin says, "And what do you think I've been giving you all these many years?... I've given you sole after sole." Even young readers who don't understand the verbal pun will note that the teeth in Death's grinning mouth are shaped like little boots. Ages 6-10. (Mar.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.Children's Literature
Colin, the clever shoemaker, finds his own unique triumph when black-coated Death comes for his soul. Colin is not only "the best shoemaker in the kingdom," but his shoes are also considered magic. He kindly charges the poor very little instead of making a fortune. So when he notices that Death is barefoot, he puts him off with a promise of fine new sandals. Those completed, he offers boots for the cold weather; when these are finished and found comfortable, they are followed by good walking shoes. Then come soft slippers, and fancy shoes for court. As years go by, Colin and Death become friends, "if such can be said of Death." When Death cannot be denied his soul any longer, Colin reminds him that he has already given him "sole after sole." Smiling, Death agrees to wait until those soles have worn out, and Colin gains many more years. Yayo uses acrylic paints to create spaces, theatrical settings for his two major characters, and many, many shoes. Colin and Death are introduced on the jacket playing chess with shoe-shaped pieces. Death's black robe and elongated white face are a bit ominous, but the cobbler's smiling face and carrot-like nose provide a humorous touch. The style is impressionistic rather than realistic; the clever story is told across double-page spreads with sly simplicity. 2006, Holiday House, Ages 6 to 9.—Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz