Tomie dePaola's Front Porch Tales and North Country Whoppers

October 15, 2007
DePaola (the 26 Fairmount Avenue series) has frequently mined his childhood to create memorable tales; here he taps into his 35-year-plus residency in northern New Hampshire. Organized by seasons, these homespun vignettes are flavored with a North Country accent, but they feature dePaola’s characteristically folksy pictures. The cast, mostly amiable, includes a few comically ornery locals, among them a soap-shunning fella whose ripe aroma sends a family of skunks scampering. Elsewhere, a “big-boned” gal related to the Bunyans meets her husband while working as a cook in a loggin’ camp, where she makes flapjacks for the “lumbahjacks” on a griddle fashioned from an old saw blade; and a friendly man invites two unsuspecting newcomers to “set” with him and his wife on Saturday evenin’ after suppah, a pastime that, apparently, entails sitting silently while listening to the tickin’ of the clock, the cracklin’ of the stove and the sizzlin’ of doughnuts frying. This last scenario, where the wide-eyed guests have no idea what they are in for nor how to react to the settin’ session, epitomizes the volume’s wry humor (“Thanks fer coming,” their host tells the visitors the next time he sees them. “Maude and I was sayin’ that Saturday was one of the best sets we ever had”). Comics-style panels interspersed between sections lampoon tourists and locals; it’s hard to predict which camp will enjoy this sunny book more. All ages.

November 1, 2007
K-Gr 4-In this celebration of New England, dePaola's familiarly styled illustrations create cozy backdrops for traditional tales, short quips, and modern anecdotes of life in the "North Country." The 10 humorous stories are arranged by season, with breaks via cartoon strips about a tourist interacting with locals as he drives around the glorious landscapes. The author's conversational style charmingly meanders at times and includes regional dialects ("yehah" for "year") that are included in a glossary. The stories graduate in length and sophistication. The tale of "Big Gertie," Paul Bunyan's cousin, is perhaps a bit long, but each story encourages at least a grin at the end. This book's appeal will not be limited to its region of inspiration and will add modern flair to tall-tales collections."Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2007
DePaola offers a colorfully illustrated compendium of original stories, tall tales, jokes, and quips related to northern New England, his adopted home. In the conversational preface, he cheerfully acknowledges that although he has lived in New Hampshire for more than 35 years, hell never be accepted as a local. Still, his sympathies are clearly with the laconic farmers and townspeople as they get the best of outsiders, time and again. With two or three entries appearing under each of the headings, Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter, the selections vary from the 13-page story of Big Gertie, a woman who fed the sawmill workers flapjacks cooked on a big, round saw blade, to a joke set up in comic-style panels on the one page and concluded with the punch line on the next. While the use of dialect may give readers a bit of trouble, an appended glossary (fahmah . . . farmer / kew . . . cow / widdered . . .widowed) translates dozens of unfamiliar words into standard English. Warm, good-humored artwork in dePaolas signature style provides an inviting setting for this flavorful collection of regional humor.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)