Books by Rafe Martin
WILL’S MAMMOTH Illustrated by Stephen Gammell
Rafe Martin understands the power of imagination and its importance in growing up. In a few words he brings to life Will, a boy who believes in his mammoth. Will loves big woolly mammoths. Even when his parents tell him that there aren’t any mammoths left, that doesn’t stop Will. Climbing on top of a giant boulder, Will takes off on his own woolly mammoth, and the adventures begin. Dazzling illustrations sweep the reader into a breathtaking, colorful, prehistoric world.
“One winter morning, Will’s mother and father inform him that his favorite fauna, the woolly mammoth, is extinct. But the boy knows better. Squinting his eyes, he manages to conjure up the prehistoric past, complete with saber—toothed tigers, early versions of horse, warthogs, and of course, the elephant’s tusky ancestor . . . Stephen Gammell augments Rafe Martin’s whimsical text with celebrations of early mammals, snow and that greatest of all time machines, a child’s imagination.”
In this original, wild and wacky comedy of lost and found identities, destinies unfolding, and compelling storytelling no one really knows the ending of the tale.
“A prince who loves to read and a princess who craves adventure fly in the face of parental authority when informed of their arranged marriage.... Though the prince finally agrees to marry someone who can tell me a story whose ending I don’t know, the princess steadfastly proclaims, I’d rather be washed overboard in a storm at sea. Fate intervenes...and throws them together...not knowing that each is the other’s intended. Told in the language and structure of a traditional tale, the story has many motifs that will be familiar to readers who will, ironically sense the ending long before it is clear to the prince. That predictability is nonetheless genuinely satisfying, as there are enough elements of excitement and energy within the action and the telling to engage and maintain children’s attention.” |
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