|
From
Publishers Weekly
When Old Henry sees a ramshackle house, he decides to move in, birds and
all. His furniture seems to go with the place; he feels at home. But the
neighbors expect Old Henry to fix up the house and yardexpectations he
ignores, thank you very much. They try everything to persuade him, but even
the bribe of a hot pie won't get Old Henry to clean up. Tired of being
nagged, he leaves town. Then the townspeople feel lost without him and,
wherever it is that Old Henry is, he misses them, too. A letter to the mayor
sets the wheels in motion for him to return home (but he'll mend the gate
and shovel the snow). This compromise is a little disappointing; young
readers will probably have loved Old Henry the way he was and may wish the
neighbors would get off his back! In fact, Henry's honesty and happiness
make this a heroic story until the ending, which some may find sentimental.
Without undermining the text, the rainbow-hued watercolor and pencil
drawings exalt the simple affirmations of the story, with characters both
comic and poignant. Gammell demonstrates again that he is one of themost
gifted illustrators working today.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an
out of print or unavailable edition of this title. |
