The Scarecrow's Dance

Yolen, Jane. 2009. The Scarecrow's Dance. Illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline. Simon & Schuster.

The Scarecrow's Dance is a seasonal picture book in verse. Jane Yolen can be quite poetic at times. And some of her books really wow me. (But this one wasn't one of them.)

Here's how it begins:

An autumn eve,
The moon was high,
As yellow as
A black cat's eye.

Out in the field,
Stiff and forlorn,
The scarecrow stood
And watched the corn.

This scarecrow is about to be brought to life by the wind. And oh how he loves dancing and prancing--being free. But can a little boy's prayers bring the scarecrow back to his pole in the field?

What I liked best about this one is the art. I love Bagram Ibatoulline. His artwork wows me every time. It's oh-so-amazing. The richness of the colors and the details. The way he has in bringing the heart of any story to life. So I appreciated that aspect of this one. But the story itself--the text--didn't move me.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers