The Fortune-Tellers (Picture Puffin Books)

In a book where characters and location remain nameless, author Lloyd Alexander, and illustrator Trina Schart Hyman, join to create a memorable tale. In this story, a carpenter visits an unusually witty fortune-teller, who tells him he will be rich if he can "earn large sums of money," and famous,

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when he "become[s] well known," and have a wife, "if [he] find[s] her and she agrees." Later, the carpenter returns to the fortune teller's room, only to find it abandoned. However, an unknowing woman soon enters and mistakenly believes the carpenter to be the fortune teller. From that moment, the carpenter changes careers. We later learn of the true fortune teller's accidental departure. Newbery Medal-winner Alexander wrote a compelling story that leaves readers thinking. The book provides opportunity for discussion concerning the carpenter's choice, what the reader might do in that situation, and the fate of the original fortune teller. Also, the illustrations help readers recognize how much the carpenter's life changed, from his humble beginnings, to his very successful second career. Conveyed through ink, acrylic, and crayon artwork, a complementary story is told. (Revealed only in the book jacket flap), the story is set in Cameroon, and Hyman's beautiful artwork allows the reader to visit the African country, revealing the local architecture, plants, animals, and people. Readers are able to take in the brightly-patterned fabrics that people wear and sell. Readers' eyes are kept moving by the people in the streets, who carry uniquely-designed baskets on their heads, loads of wood on their backs, and babies in slings. We see children selling food and drinks, servants holding feather fans, and French words on signs. This story provides one occasion in which we don't need a passport to travel the world.

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