cover image The Narrow Escapes of Davy Crockett

The Narrow Escapes of Davy Crockett

Ariane Dewey. Greenwillow Books, $15 (48pp) ISBN 978-0-688-08914-6

In Dewey's version of the famous mountain man, Davy Crockett is a teller of tall tales who has constant brushes with danger. With the ``surest rifle and the ugliest dog anywhere,'' Davy takes on a bear's less-than-affectionate embraces, falls into a hollow tree filled with bees and gets in a too-tight scrape with a snake. He is a man of wild accomplishments and wilder stories about those accomplishments. The illustrations are crisp and colorful and the brief text moves along swiftly. The tales include his courtship of Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind and his campaign for Congress, in which he promises to outtalk any congressman without taking a breath. Ages 6-up. (Apr.)