Prince Valentino [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

Kindergarten-Grade 2-- A lap-sitting, one-on-one tale in which a great-grandmother remembers her experiences as a child in another country as she and young Rosie enjoy a rocking chair. After recalling the simplest details of that other time and place, Great-Grandmother presents Rosie with a beautiful seashell that becomes the object of generational transference meant to be kept forever. A sense of family and history is effectively presented in this relaxed, gentle immigration story, told in the simplest of terms. Bornstein's pastel paintings fade into the old woman's memory as readers, too, see the fog that blankets the sea; the big ship outlined in the mist, visible only because of the lights; and the shadowed patterns of seagulls one might see when looking directly into the sun. Visually limited for group-sharing, this touching multigenerational story, when read aloud, works well as either an adventuresome, carefree tale of new lands or as a tender, special exchange between young and old, depending on the tone of voice. Use with Patricia Polacco's The Keeping Quilt (S. & S., 1988) and to compare with Judith Caseley's Apple Pie and Onions (Greenwillow, 1987). --Carolyn Vang, Monroe County Library System, Rochester, NY BOS, Burny. Prince Valentino. tr. from Dutch. illus. by Hans de Beer. unpaged. North-South Bks., dist. by Picture Book Studio. 1990. Tr $13.95. ISBN 1-55858-089-1 . LC 89-43247. Kindergarten-Grade 3--This frog prince is, for once, a real frog, if not a real prince. Valentino is an only child, and his doting mother has taken to calling him her "little prince." Carried away by the idea, Valentino brags to his friends and parents that a castle and a princess are waiting for him high in the mountains. Of course, they become impatient with him, and the lonely frog decides to run away. On the road he makes a friend of a small bird named Lucy. As they travel, however, Lucy gets bigger and bigger, finally growing into a full-fledged stork, part of whose staple diet is--frogs. They've been together too long, however, to have this development ruin their friendship, and Lucy flies Valentino over the castle wall to find his princess. Unfortunately, there are 341 frogs in line ahead of him. Reality sinks in, and Valentino returns home. The illustrations are charming, with many amusing details and humorous juxtapositions. Unfortunately, the story is less successful. Bos diffuses all necessary tension by allowing the story line to veer off on too many tangents. Valentino's recognition of Lucy as a "real princess" is a tender touch, one of many, but it arrives too abruptly to sustain the mood of the story. The soft tones of the illustrations and the gentle theme are jarred by the shouting and yelling of some the characters and the slang used by one of the hopeful frog princes. An unusual presentation, pleasant enough, but not a first purchase. --Barbara Hutcheson, Greater Victoria Public Library, B.C., Canada
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

When Valentino, a frog that believes he is a prince, sets out to find his princess, he meets up with a poor bird named Lucy, and the two of them develop a special friendship.