| Sea King
by Jane Yolen and Shulamith L. Oppenheim, illustrated
by Stefan Czernecki
Combining several elements of Russian folklore, the authors create
an engaging tale using old motifs in new ways. A king spares an
eagle he was going to shoot; the eagle speaks and promises to
be useful, offering the king two boxes that he's not to open just
yet. He does, of course, and when the enclosed livestock run amok,
the sea king, Morskoi Tsar, gathers them back, making the king
promise to give him "that which you do not know is in your
house." The king returns home to find he's promised his baby
son, born while he was away. When the prince is claimed, he has
a few adventures with the iron-toothed Baba Yaga and the sea king's
daughter Vasilisa the Wise, who with her sisters is sometimes
a bird. The sea king sets the prince to three tasks, which he
accomplishes with the help of Vasilisa, a relationship sure to
end in marriage. The bright, deep colors of Russian folk art,
particularly the nesting dolls called matryoshka, inform the pictures,
making pleasing patterns. Because the faces are built on these
geometric forms, expressions are limited to a grimacing smile
or a turned-down comma for a frown. Lots of folkloric elements
neatly combined and pictures bright enough for group reading create
a nice addition to Yolen's huge canon both singly and with collaborators.
(Picture book/folktale. 6-9) --Kirkus December 01, 2003
Jane Yolen was recently interviewed by Bill Richardson on the
Afternoon Show for the CBC -- CM, Volume IX Number 16.,
April 11, 2003
Jane Yolen and Shulamith Oppenheim also take to the water in
The Sea King, illustrated by Stefan Czernecki (Crocodile Books;
$15.95). The motif is familiar: A king accepts help from a stranger
and unwittingly gives up his firstborn in return. A hero's quest
follows as the young prince seeks to win the hand of one of the
Sea King's 12 daughters, along with his freedom. Czernecki's bold
illustrations are completely devoid of the wimpy pastels so often
found in children's books. -- The Salt Lake City Tribune
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