Howe, working in a style that is just as realistic as Locker's (see above), highlights the comic gifts of Irving's story: his Rip waves jauntily to a scarecrow, sneaks away from the house unaware that a stern Dame Van Winkle looks on and, in one frame, is seen scrambling out the door away from the shrewish, pointing finger of his wife (the rest of her is offstage). Henry Hudson's crew are a wild-eyed, caricatured bunch; Rip, upon awakening, has ivy and brambles clinging to his hat and pants, and his beard sails down past his knees. He returns to his village and is mistaken for a soldier of the American revolution; but soon settles into a serene life with his daughter and is lastly shown carving from wood the figures of the small men from his "night" on the mountain. This is a vivid piece of storytelling, which takes full advantage of the atmospheric Catskill setting. Howe good-spiritedly taps the elements of the tale that make it an American favorite. Ages 4-8.

Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Kindergarten-Grade 5 Irving's complete text, with unsurpassed pictures by N. C. Wyeth, is still in print (Morrow, 1987). Although Howe's abridgement makes the story available to younger readers, it is debatable whether too much of the mystery and historythe sense of the passing of time and of political changehas been sacrificed in the shortening. Irving's plot has been respected, and although little of his style remains, the narrative line is clear and (except for several pages of uninterrupted text near the end) well-paced to the pictures. Howe works in the ``classic'' Brandywine/Rackham vein, but the pictures skip around seasonally, even though Irving specifies an autumn setting. His interests lie in portraiture and period detail, and while the latter may be lost on a young audience, the wonderful faces of the Half Moon crew, featured on the cover, will grab browsers. If there is a profound side to the tale of Rip's 20-year escapist nap (RIP?), it isn't apparent in this humorous retelling or in the luminous paintings. Patricia Dooley, University of Washington, Seattle

Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

A companion volume to Moses' edition of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1995), this book retells, in somewhat simplified language, Irving's classic tale of Rip Van Winkle, who fell asleep in the Catskills one evening and awoke 20 years later. Oil paintings appear on nearly every page of this large-format book, which includes a double-page spread portraying the hero's awakening. Like his great-grandmother Grandma Moses, the artist paints in a folk art style that may appeal to adults more than to children. Recommended for collections needing illustrated versions of the tale. Carolyn Phelan --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Short story by Washington Irving, published in THE SKETCH BOOK in 1819-20. Though set in the Dutch culture of pre-Revolutionary War New York state, the story of Rip Van Winkle is based on a German folktale. Rip Van Winkle is an amiable farmer who wanders into the Catskill Mountains, where he comes upon a group of dwarfs playing ninepins. Rip accepts their offer of a drink of liquor and promptly falls asleep. When he awakens, 20 years later, he is an old man with a long, white beard; the dwarfs are nowhere in sight. Rip goes into town and finds that everything is changed: his wife is dead, his children are grown, and George Washington's portrait hangs in place of King George III's. The old man entertains the townspeople with tales of the old days and of his encounter with the little men in the Catskill mountains. -- The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.