Synopsis
Hans Crispin is no ordinary shoemaker. He's a shoemaker extraordinaire! And his shoes are extraordinary, too. When he arrives in a village, the locals quickly discover that Hans's shoes can make them taller...or more confident...or peppier! Everybody is happy—except the village cobbler. No one wants his ordinary shoes anymore, so he send Hans to a new customer: a hungry giant! The giant thinks Hans looks pretty tasty, but soon the shoemaker extraordinaire has changed even his outlook: the giant becomes taller, more confident, peppier—and he has an exciting new life in the village.
Steve Light has illustrated his inspired original tale with bright collages using paper hand-printed with the soles of shoes.
About the Author:
Steve Light is a designer and illustrator as well as a preschool art teacher. In a pointer review, Kirkus called his debut book Puss in Boots, "fresh and full of energy." He lives and works in New York City.
Publishers Weekly
Light's (Puss in Boots) quirky, full-bleed cloth-and-paper collages dominate this meandering and labored tale about a traveling shoemaker named Hans Crispin, who creates extraordinarily specialized footwear. Among his customers, for example, is a girl who wants to be the center of attention; he fashions her boots from which flow elaborate, blossoming vines ("She would never be a wallflower again"). For a woman tired from walking her dogs, he designs shoes that sport wheels (inside each of which a dog runs for an added creative spin). Embittered by his rival's success, the local cobbler hatches a plan that involves sending Hans into the clutches of a ravenous giant, Barefootus, a visit that Hans turns to his favor. The verbose, diffuse qualities of the prose seem intensified by the unusually kinetic, unbridled art. Light's collages incorporate a dizzying range of bold fabrics and papers, the latter of which were printed with the soles of various footwear. Among the profusion of colors, shapes and patterns in each composition, readers may have trouble finding a focal point. Ages 4-8. (Mar.) Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.