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Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Bayport Public Library | J 398.2 HUTTON | Searching... Unknown |
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Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-6-- Paris and Helen, the ten-year siege and battles, the ruse of the horse, Sinon, Laocoon, the Greeks' surreptitious return, the destruction of the city, and the exile of her people--all figure in this gracefully compact and dramatically compelling presentation of the end of the Trojan War. Hutton preserves a sense of Homeric scale and complexity both in text and in pictures. The forgotten lovers who started it all are poignantly evoked at the end; the frivolity of the huge, toylike horse, with its faint archaic smile is contrasted with the utter ruin of the city, graphically suggested in a masterly double-page spread of the massive, breached walls, fire within, a thick column of smoke and a thin column of exiles stretching into the distance. Hutton sacrifices some of his usual tender blues and lush greens for the pale yellow, umber, and lavender of the Anatolian plain. Some may find the horse insufficiently noble, but its meaning echoes in the repeated motif of a child's wheeled wooden toy, last seen overturned and abandoned in the rout. The Trojan War is introduced as being neither heroic nor despicable, but as an epic memory brought vividly and unforgettably to life. --Patricia Dooley, University of Washington, Seattle (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Hutton's interpretation of the Greek ruse that concluded the 10-year Trojan War is both elegant and dramatic. His pen-and-ink drawings, at once delicate and forceful, adroitly capture the scale of the conflict. Lines of warriors and ships, vivid in the foreground, recede hazily in the distance; the stunning and tragically irresistible wooden behemoth is shown dwarfing Troy's inhabitants and the Trojan fortress itself. Hutton's is narrative is, characteristically, scrupulously accurate and detailed, and seamless except for a too-abrupt transition when the horse's contents are revealed--a moment that fails to capture the situation's inherent theatricality. But this is a small quibble in light of the whole, for visually the horse is one of Hutton's finest creations: the closing image of its presiding over Troy's smoking ruins--its painted wide-eyed gaze and calm smile having become an ironic rebuke--is especially memorable. Ages 7-up. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Hutton's choice of the horse as the protagonist masterfully emphasizes the tragic elements of this classic tale of deceit. The book serves as an eloquent statement on the futility of war. In the art as well as the text, Hutton makes excellent use of the dialectic, playing human drama against divine will. From HORN BOOK 1992, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Again, Hutton's verbal and visual simplicity will evoke complex responses. In a brief retelling of Troy's fall, he offers a subtle comment on the whole subject of war: Paris, fleeing with Helen (they look more like dancers than fugitives), looks out at the reader with a knowing Archaic smile that reappears on the faces of the serpents as they crush the life out of Laocoön and his sons, and again on the huge, round-bellied horse. Some of the Trojans' clothing has a modern look, and the text closes on an ironic note--the horse towers over the ruined city, but ``Everyone had forgotten Paris and Helen, who had started it all.'' Occasionally, the spareness of the illustrations backfires--in one scene the Trojans are pulling the horse toward a gate that looks small rather than distant--but the focus of the action is always plain, even when the human figures are dwarfed by the city walls. A thoughtful, multilayered introduction to this ancient tale. (Picture book. 6-9)
Booklist Review
Ages 6-10. Far from warriors and glory, Hutton retells the old story of the Trojan horse from the viewpoint of ordinary people. This picture book humanizes the heroic story without in any way reducing its mystery. Paris and Helen started it all, Hutton says, and there were 10 long years of battles and many brave deeds. But that's not his subject. His pen and watercolor illustrations show families, including children with their pets and toys, on the beach and in the streets of Troy. They're puzzled about this great wooden horse with its bright, painted eyes, but they're glad the war is over and that the Greeks have gone. Then night falls, the city is quiet, and Hutton switches to inside the great wooden horse, where Greeks wait, slumped in the heat and darkness, before they're let out to wreak havoc and destroy their enemy. The families we saw on the beach are that enemy, and they become a "weeping trail of conquered people" driven through the gates of their burning city. One dramatic picture focuses on a desperate mother clutching her baby. Just as powerful are the tiny details throughout, like the toy animal on wheels that ends up overturned in the dust. Hutton's informal style, with its masterful use of changing perspective, is perfectly suited to his story. The deceptively casual illustrations manage to be both contemporary and historical, as they set human figures against ocean and sky. The huge war machine remains. It towers over everything, stiff and bright and sinister. It's waiting while you're playing on the beach. ~--Hazel Rochman
