Lane is represented by ye olde Steven Malk of Writers House.
smalk@writershouse.com
2009
Welcome to Lane Smith's website.
September 2009
STARRED
Publishers Weekly
While Heide's celebrated Treehorn found himself shrinking, her new Princess Hyacinth floats. The delight to be found in both books is not in explaining why these fantastical things occur, but in how children with even the most unusual problems solve them in ways that adults cannot imagine. To keep her from floating away, Hyacinth's protective parents have literally weighted her down with diamond pebbles and a crown with “the heaviest jewels of the kingdom.” Smith pictures Hyacinth yearning for freedom as she sits in her bathing suit watching swimmers while belted to a heavy bench, or stoically drags her heavy clothing around the castle. The quirky oil and watercolor illustrations seamlessly match Heide's wry, understated text, and when Hyacinth eventually does float away, it's her soul mate, named Boy, who lends a hand and opens a new, freer chapter in her life. Heide possesses the ability to tell a moralistic tale without a hint of didacticism and makes this singular tale seem like the story of every girl who meets a boy, shedding the protective rules of her parents in exchange for a life where she is “never bored again.”
STARRED
Kirkus
No shrinking violet (nor Treehorn), Princess Hyacinth yearns to play outside—but she’ll float away! There’s no particular reason, but indoors she wafts upwards until the ceiling blocks her, and outdoors, the sky’s the limit. A wonderfully expressive illustration of Hyacinth dragging through the castle halls in her gravity-ensuring extra-heavy crown shows her pouting mouth (no eyes—they’re buried under the crown) and her huge, downtrodden shadow on the wall. Smith’s elegantly cartoonish brush-and-ink character survives an exhilarating scare involving a kite, a rescue and a newly formed friendship. Heide’s prose takes off just when Hyacinth does: “She whirled and she twirled, she swooshed and she swirled….” When Hyacinth soars free in a vast pink sky, her figure is tiny and three balloons follow behind, creating a scene of breezy adventure that also feels delicate. Oil-paint backgrounds (shafts of light; antique-hued balloons; soft animal topiary) glow behind the pointy-nosed, active characters. Molly Leach’s clever design shows the word “up” repeatedly rising, and one sentence levitates partially off the page—naturally.
Booklist
A goofy romp that maintains a gentle feel throughout from veteran author Heide, who recently celebrated her 90th birthday.
Florence's 90th birthday party at the American Library Association in Chicago.
School Library Journal
K-Gr 4–Two delightfully childlike donkeys star in this laugh-out-loud opus from the master of kid-companionable humor. When one friend says, “Can we talk about the big elephant in the room?” his buddy assumes that he’s using a figure of speech to refer to an embarrassing incident (“‘The Big Elephant? As in ‘the BIG problem?’”). What follows is a stream of uproariously funny confessions and overwrought explanations, as the guilty friend tries to deduce just which indignity he should apologize for. Was it because he ate all the dessert? (“But what if you had a nut allergy, what then?...Yes! I forced down that creamy, nutty, crunch ice cream…to save your life!”) Because he picked his pal last for soccer? (“…and baseball? and volleyball? and tiddlywinks?”) Because he told Haley about the time “…you laughed so hard you peed your pants?” The list continues until the anticipated punch line: there really is a big elephant in the room (and he’s eating crunchy-nut ice cream). Done in muted tones, the droll artwork tells much of the story through lively layouts and funny details. With the roll of an eye or the flick of an ear, the animals convey a range of emotions. In keeping with their characters, the questioner is identifiable by his large glasses and mustard-colored polka-dotted bowtie, while his smooth-talking chum sports a trendier look. A variety of text fonts and sizes adds to the fun. Kids will get a kick out of this book (while also learning about idioms).–Joy Fleishhacker
A New York Times bestseller
2008 winner of ReadBoston's Best Read Aloud Book
© 2009 Lane Smith