Rip Van Winkle

Two handsomely illustrated retellings of this classic regional ghost story - both considerably shorter than the original. Despite occasional lapses, Locker's text is formal, even elegant in places, while Howe's condensation has an easier, more natural flow and preserves some of Irving's language. As usual, Locker's serene, romantic landscapes overwhelm the story they're supposed to illustrate; small and rather crude-looking human figures walk inconsequentially among majestic wooded hills, and viewers are invited to admire scenic vistas, magnificent skies, or individual trees ablaze with autumn color. Howe's paintings capture the beauty of the Catskills in a more sharply detailed way: the bright skies and misty green hills are there, but the reader's eye is drawn to twigs and tufts and fairy rings in the foreground. More important, Rip and the other characters, in carefully drawn period costume and with lively, often beautiful faces, add plenty of energy and sly humor to the narrative. Both illustrators paint in derivative styles; Locker's work has been compared to the Hudson River school, and Howe pays affectionate tribute to Norman Rockwell, Arthur Rackham, the Brothers Hildebrandt, and others of that ilk. Two fine showcases for accomplished artists, and younger readers will be drawn to either; but libraries should be aware that Morrow's reissue of the full text, with N.C. Wyeth's classic illustrations, has recently been made available. (Kirkus Reviews)