Reviews: (by author)

McNaughton, Janet. Brave Jack and the Unicorn. Illus. Susan Tooke. Plattsburgh, NY: Tundra Books of Northern New York, 2005. ISBN 0-8876-677-3

McNaughton, a noted Newfoundland author of books for children and young adults, calls on her extensive knowledge of folklore to write her first picture book. She creates a folk fairy tale that includes numerous traditional elements: a widow, a youngest son, a quest, a contest for a Princess's hand, an evil magician, animal and human helpers on the quest, magical objects, and the magical number three. While this tale evolves from the Newfoundland Folk tradition, McNaughton draws on the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm. The story begins as we discover the natures of the widow's sons: two older selfish brothers and the youngest, Jack. Jack is considered needlessly tenderhearted and foolish--he gives half of his wares to a beggar; he cannot pull out weeds; he sleeps with a sick cow; and he cannot kill farm animals for food. Seeking a better way of life, the older brothers leave their mother and Jack. To ease his mother's fears, Jack sets off on a quest to find his brothers. What follows is a series of magical encounters that reinforces Jack's kind nature: giving crumbs to the Ant Queen, freeing an apple tree of an axe, feeding a starving woman, and assisting a farmer with a sick cow. In the folk tale tradition, Jack's goodness brings him rewards of a whistle, a golden apple, a fine coat, and boots with three magical needles. After Jack discovers that his brothers labor in a quarry, he decides to attempt to win the Princess's hand from her evil guardian, a magician. Naturally Jack must pass three tasks or be thrown into the quarry like his brothers. Each task is completed with the help of the gifts from the ant, the farmer, and the tree: the ants' whistle calls them to separate sand from wheat; the farmer's needles let him climb an ice mountain; and the tree's golden apple allows him to capture the unicorn. After Jack accomplishes his tasks, he and Princess must escape the evil magician. Once again the magic number three appears, as the princess cleverly uses ordinary but magical objects to create obstacles; her ribbon changes to a river, her garnet necklace becomes hot rocks; and her comb becomes a thicket. To add to the suspenseful escape, the magician changes shapes to avoid her magic. In the resolution all ends well with the marriage of Jack and the Princess. To complement the text, Tooke's illustrations are striking, dramatic, and at times harsh. She uses acrylics on watercolor paper with bold colors-bright blue, green, gold, and red. Outlining many of the illustrations, Tooke uses broad strokes of black that underscore important events. Most of the pictures cover two pages and provide dramatic scenes of Newfoundland: bare wind-swept trees, rugged shores lines, stone covered land, and bleak sweeps of stubby grass. After reading and viewing this picture book, we have a sense of Newfoundland's landscape. In fact, Tooks paints and incorporates fifteen different actual scenic spots and provides the name and location of each place. Her illustrations work well with this strong, magical tale.

Toni Rowden, January 2006

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