Gifts That Traverse Afar

Any book for children is really a gift of sorts: a place where the world gets explained or expanded, made more mysterious or dear. Whatever an author’s peculiar love, chances are that some young reader will be entranced by sharing it. Childrens’ authors are lucky that way. . . .

How delightful to have a picture book retelling a tale from Boccaccio’s “The Decameron”! The Black Falcon (Philomel Books: $14.95) is William Wise’s 50th book for children and is illustrated in old-fashioned, classically romantic (if somewhat stiff) paintings by Gillian Barlow. It is a tale of the achingly heartfelt love of a poor knight for his wealthy and beautiful neighbor.

The soulful Federigo hides his affection for Lady Elena and takes comfort only in his black peregrine falcon. The day comes when Elena invites herself over to Federigo’s to dine. Because the cupboard is bare, Federigo kills the only thing in the world that he cares for, and thus is able to serve his secret love a decent dinner. The slaying of the falcon awakens the widow to the amorous heart of the gallant young man.

Even children who have no interest in romantic love are sure to understand; for they too, yearn, hope and sacrifice--as does Federigo--to someday be rewarded.

The Hidden House by Martin Waddell and Angela Barrett (Philomel Books: $14.95) is a beautifully illustrated book about loneliness, another good subject for children. An old man, Bruno, makes wooden dolls to keep him company, but one day vanishes from his solitary life never to return. The house becomes covered with ivy, overrun by beetles and ants, and finally disappears, leaving the dolls damp, mildewed and alone. A man and his family discover the house but don’t move in until after the long winter, when they clean, paint and wash away the wildness and restore the wooden dolls. Everything is returned to a state of security and warmth, and the reader, too, is satisfied with this gentle tale of loss and gain. The stunning illustrations will train a child’s eye to discern the real magic of visual storytelling.

We come now to the unlikely tale of Norvin, who “was a good actor but rather plain. In fact, he looked very much like a shark.” Margaret Mahy and Jonathan Allen have conjured an annoyingly independent boy in The Great White Man-Eating Shark (Dial: $12.95). Norvin likes to swim but the cove is too crowded, so he fashions himself a plastic dorsal fin in order to look like a great white man-eating shark. This effect terrifies other swimmers, leaving Norvin alone in the water.

Eventually, of course, the wicked boy must meet up with the real thing, who quickly decides that Norvin is the shark of her dreams. With a threatening ultimatum, she proposes. This book is subtitled a “cautionary tale,” but it is so hilarious that no child will realize he is being taught morality.

Thunder at Gettysburg (G. P. Putnam’s Sons: $13.95) is the story of Tillie Pierce, who gets caught in the famous battle that was the turning point of the Civil War. Reissued from its original publication in 1975, Patricia Lee Gauch tells an insider’s tale based on Tillie Pierce Alleman’s “At Gettysburg, or What I Saw and Heard at the Battle of Gettysburg,” published in 1889. In short, simply told, verse-like chapters, we walk in Tillie’s shoes as she ducks shells whistling above her head, becomes a nurse to the wounded and offers bread to a dying general.

These days our children are exposed to untold amounts of violence that glamorizes war, while they are virtually innocent of history. This book happily reverses that equation, and the black-and-white pencil drawings by Stephen Gammell evoke the seriousness of war without becoming grim.

To thoroughly enjoy Dinosaur Dig by Kathryn Lasky, with photographs by her husband Christopher G. Knight (William Morrow: $13.95), one wishes one were an 11-year-old boy who believes that excavating for dinosaurs in 110-degree heat in the Badlands of Montana is what life is about. Given the detail and poetry of the text, and the excellent photographs both of the mundane and the grand, it becomes clear, however, that this adventure can be happily undertaken by anyone of any age.

Along with five families and Dr. Keith Rigby, the paleontologist in charge of the dig, the Knights learn to “sniff dirt,” and to walk the treacherous, rattlesnake-infested siltstone hills. This book is a cultural antidote to our “Mutant Ninja Turtle”-crazed population as we learn that excitement can be found in identifying ancient mammal teeth and learning how dinosaurs died.

The diggers’ work is grueling, exacting and complicated. First they find a salamander skull; finally, more important fossils are discovered. “Every bone is a challenge,” says Keith, who thinks perhaps they’ve stumbled on an ankylosaurus and instructs his team to make plaster casts. Eventually, he realizes he’s got a 67-million-year-old triceratops on his hands. The dig is a triumph!

Lasky writes of the history locked in the sandstone: “Toward dawn, a timeless wind will rise and blow through the grass and wrap around the buttes and scrape away at those stories.” This book leaves one covered with sand, with dirt under his nails, bugs in his face and dryness in his mouth, but reawakens a powerful, currently underrated awe for nature and our Earth’s history.

The world is a better place as seen through Tana Hoban’s eyes. She photographs the commonplace with appreciation and wit, fashioning wordless books for children, books that have made her famous. Shadows and Reflections (Greenwillow Books: $12.95) is her newest, and a wonderful way to spend a quiet, reflective moment with a child. These days, children are accosted with more and more images, yet are in danger of seeing less. Hoban refreshes us with unexpected pictures: a wiggly old building as seen reflected on a glass high-rise, a piece of a man in a rain puddle, the shadows of insignificant weeds. These pages are a wake-up call to the eye, another small treasure.