School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-4-A girl visits the North Wind to rebuke him for keeping the rain clouds away and for blowing away the last bit of cornmeal. Old Windy, blustery and only slightly chastened, provides her with a magical, food-producing handkerchief, but a wicked innkeeper whom she encounters on her route home steals it from her. Willa returns twice more to Old Windy, who gives her a second magical gift-a gold-producing goat, quickly stolen by the innkeeper-and finally a third-a whistle to call up the wind and spin the man until he returns her other gifts. Del Negro's retelling of Peter Asbjirnsen and Jirgen Moe's "The Lad Who Went to the North Wind" invests the tale with an immediacy that will be great for telling or reading aloud. The magic, combined with the satisfaction of justice served and patience and courage rewarded, is a perfect recipe, told with a twinkle. Solomon's big-boned, big-eyed elongated figures echo the story's northern roots but have a delicious energy of their own in the swirling full-color, full-page illustrations.-Kathie Meizner, Montgomery County Public Libraries, Chevy Chase, MD (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
An old fairy tale undergoes a magical transformation in Del Negro's (Lucy Dove) capable hands. According to the old Norse tale, a boy receives charmed gifts from the North Wind, and loses them just as quickly to a scoundrel landlord. Del Negro's version stars a girl named Willa Rose Mariah McVale and adds depth and spirit to the entire cast, while Solomon's (Clever Beatrice) swirly-whirly watercolors have the effect of letting spring light into a musty attic. Willa gets magic gifts from the North Wind, too, but the real charm of this version is derived from her spirited exchanges with the pale, chilly-looking Old Windy. Solomon paints Willa with a red peasant dress and long fiery braids; she looks like a cousin of Pippi Longstocking, and sounds like her, too: "Don't yell at me, you no-good, no-account thieving windbag!" she shouts. "I want the cornmeal you stole, so give it back." Old Windy replies in blue upper-case letters, almost poignantly (and with the ability to make a good pun, as well). "Look, little girl," he says, "I am a fair wind." Willa convinces Old Windy to keep helping her until she can punish the true thief (gently) and impress her skeptical sister, to boot. Solomon's mixed-media artwork layers watercolors that give the compositions movement, and readers can pore over details in the collage of flower and fauna, elfin and woodland creatures. Ages 5-8. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
After the north wind steals her cornmeal, Willa demands retribution. Contrite, Old Windy gives her various magic objects, which a greedy innkeeper serially pilfers. This original story, based on a Norwegian folktale, is told with unusual gusto. There's much to enjoy in the mixed-media art, but eyes will gravitate toward scarlet-tressed Willa, who is equal parts Pippi Longstocking and Norma Rae. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Gr. 1-3. Lively prose, eye-catching art, and a strong female protagonist characterize Del Negro's delightful story, based on a Norwegian folktale. After a mischievous wind blows away Sis and Willa's cornmeal, Willa sets off to demand restitution from Old Windy himself. The wind offers a trade--a magic handkerchief that provides food. After a greedy innkeeper makes a secret substitution so the magic handkerchief can't fulfill its promise, an angry Willa returns to challenge the wind. The same thing happens to the magic goat that Old Windy gives her, but a magic whistle proves to be the innkeeper's undoing. Willa's sassy, outspoken, courageous nature shines through in her -actions and in the folksy dialogue. Old Windy is distinctive as well; he is both playful and fair-playing, and his words, in large, colored\b capital letters, suggest dynamic read-alouds. Solomon's luminous artwork has a magical airiness about it. Its swirl of bright colors and motion aptly conveys both the drama and the humor of the tale, which is sure to capture kids' imaginations. --Shelle Rosenfeld Copyright 2005 Booklist
