Clever Beatrice
By Margaret Willey
Atheneum, $16
ISBN 0689832540

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A tall tale with a French twist

If you have a very clever girl (of almost any age) in your home, you may wish to reward her with a copy of Clever Beatrice. The story is an "Upper Peninsula Conte" or tall tale from the upper peninsula of Michigan, an area with a strong French influence (the word "conte," for instance, comes from "raconter," which means to tell). Clever Beatrice combines a charming story, told with a French-Canadian lilt by writer Margaret Willey, with wondrous illustrations by a new artist, Heather Solomon. The images, combinations of water color, pen and ink and collage, are exquisite.

Beatrice, the heroine, is a very small child who outwits a very large and stupid giant, thus saving her poor family who have almost run out of porridge. Located in the realm of fishermen and wood-cutters in the rustic upper peninsula of Michigan, the story has the same locale as the classic book Paddle-to-the-Sea.

While picture books of this sort are normally aimed at three-to eight-year-olds, I gave it as a Christmas gift to an older girl on the theory that children always love an excuse to dip backwards into youthful innocence. Also, the artwork is so fine that adult collectors of picture books may be drawn to Clever Beatrice.