LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / June 23, 1999

GRETNA – You might feel a little suspicious about “Jolie Blonde and the Three Heberts,” just released by Pelican Publishing Company. After all,the story is quite familiar, and the author is an Hebert by birth and she just might be a bit one-sided in the matter.

Tongue in cheek aside, “Jolie Blonde” is the story of a beautiful little girl in Thibodaux who decides to go for a long walk and ends up in the house of the Hebert family.

The family isn”t at home, but they left their gumbo in their three bowls, their rocking chairs on the front porch and three beds, where Jolie Blonde is later discovered sleeping in Bebe”s bed.

Now this story, by Sheila Hebert Collins (a Cajun-bred native of Abbeville) is a definite improvement over the old story about a little girl and three domesticated, talking bears, being much more realistic.

In fact, given the fact that Collins is herself a blonde, this story might have been told about her own childhood, a fact which gives this children”s story a taste of charming realism (and a terrific recipe for gumbo).

Collins has already taken her Cajun twist to such earlier works as “Cendrillon: A Cajun Cinderella” and “Petite Rouge: A Cajun Twist to an old Tale.” Illustrated by Patrick Soper, who teamed with her on”Cendrillon,” this is an imaginative, well thought-out and intelligently- written reworking of the original story.

“Jolie Blonde and the Three Heberts” is available now at major bookstores for $14.95.”

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