Shadow Story

by Nancy Willard, David Díaz (Illustrator)

Born on The Night When Shadows Linger, Holly Go Lolly played with shadows all her life. And that was a lucky thing for her, because when the Ooboo came to eat her up, she used her mysterious shadows to work a trick on him. Newbery Award–winner Nancy Willard weaves a magic spell with the extraordinary story of Holly Go Lolly and the Ooboo, which Caldecott Award–winning illustrator David Diaz illuminates with dazzling art.

Genres: Picture Books

40 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1999

About the author

NANCY WILLARD was an award-winning children's author, poet, and essayist who received the Newbery Medal in 1982 for A Visit to William Blake's Inn. She wrote dozens of volumes of children's fiction and poetry, including The Flying Bed, Sweep Dreams, and Cinderella's Dress. She also authored two novels for adults, Things Invisible to See and Sister Water, and twelve books of poetry, including Swimming Lessons: New and Selected Poems. She lived with her husband, photographer Eric Lindbloom, and taught at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Reviews

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Out of the wall stepped the woman herself, dressed in fireflies and rainshine with her shadow folded over her arm. Great line; however the monster eats the child's parents. A little dark.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

My five-year-old asked me to read this story about a girl who uses her unique ability to control shadows to defeat a mysterious evil creature called the Ooboo. Both she and my three-year-old were a little bit bothered by the fact that the Ooboo seems to indiscriminately eat people, but they both also really identified with the main character and loved the story much more than I did. Personally, I think Willard wrote many books that were better than this one, even though this book does show how well she understands childhood imagination.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

My five-year-old son picked this book out from the library this week. He liked the fairy with the scissors on the back cover.

I stopped reading this book out loud by the end of the first page. The father stepped outside and was eaten by an Ooboo. I flipped through the book and saw that the story was going to get worse before it got better. I don't have a problem with the topic of death in children's books, even picture books, but in this book, the introduction of the topic was jarring.

The story does improve. The girl, Holly Go Lolly (who I kept wanting to call Holly Golightly), is resourceful. She does outwit and even befriend the Ooboo who left her an orphan and tormented her for her entire life.

The illustrations are fine, if not outstanding. They still are better than the text.

[Jennifer Hewitt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was not a fan of this book due to the fact that it could potentially scare children. Things sneaking out of walls to eat you, not something you would want kids to read so that they are scared of the dark. The illustrations were good, but also a little different and creepy.