From Publishers Weekly
Brooklyn's Botanic Garden is astir when Brian and his sister Susan discover a strangely gentle trio of lion, leopard and wolf. A crew of incompetent grown-ups--pompous professors, zombie-like journalists, a sincere but obtuse mayor--finally allows the kids to use their knowledge of art to solve the riddle. The animals, it emerges, have stepped out of a canvas in the Brooklyn Museum, hoping to find the outside world approaching the messianic calm of Edward Hicks's Peaceable Kingdom. Loosely based on Hicks's primitive style, Olbinski's striking illustrations are mysterious and sometimes ominous, and don't entirely suit Zadrzynska's ( The Girl with a Watering Can ) urbane, satiric text. The Hicks painting itself becomes an afterthought, a vehicle for the author's lament, implied in an afterword, that Isaiah's prophecy is so far from being realized. Although it may get some children to the museum--locations of the various versions of Hicks's painting are given--this book is ultimately unsatisfying in its reduction of art to a philosophical device. Ages 5-12.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 1-4-The sudden appearance of a lion, leopard, and wolf in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden surprises early morning visitors. The wild beasts' benign demeanor baffles the mayor, reporters, policemen, and professors. Finally, a little boy and his older sister solve the mystery of the animals' origin-they have escaped from Edward Hicks's painting of The Peaceable Kingdom, which hangs in the nearby Brooklyn Museum. With the help of the children in Hicks's painting, the creatures are restored to their proper place. Although the plot is more ponderous then Zadrzynska's The Girl with a Watering Can (Chameleon, 1989), this book provides a novel way of introducing fine art to children. A list of 18 museum collections that have variations of the painting will encourage youngsters to seek an original, thus enabling them to ponder the artist's utopian vision themselves.
Kathy Piehl, Mankato State University, MN
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Kathy Piehl, Mankato State University, MN
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
