Review by Booklist Review
Ages 3-5. Oh, Lilly. You sure are lookin' good--and don't you know it. Lilly, the delightful mouse-girl featured in Julius, the Baby of the World (1990), has started school, and she loves everything about it, from the squeaky chalk to the fish sticks in the lunchroom on Friday. Most of all, she loves her teacher, Mr. Slinger, who wears hip clothes and greets Lilly's artistic achievements with an impressed, "Wow!" So it's only natural that when Lilly gets flashy sunglasses and a brand new purple purse, she can't wait to show them off to her classmates and teacher. Mr. Slinger has other ideas; he would like Lilly to wait until sharing time. Alas, that isn't possible, and soon Lilly's new accoutrements are sitting in Mr. Slinger's desk drawer--and Lilly is furious with her teacher. As usual, Henkes gets it all just right: Lilly's pure delight in school, her adoration of Mr. Slinger, and her fury at his betrayal. What child won't identify with Lilly's urge to get back at Mr. Slinger with a nasty picture and mean words--and with her longing to make it right again when he sends her home with a treat and a note that says tomorrow will be a better day? All the bustling, inventive artwork is a pleasure to look at, but a particular joy is Henkes' ability to define Lilly and her mood with just a few deft pen strokes. A simple curved mouth line shows a range of emotions--anger, disappointment, hurt. The whole book, art and text, is lovingly layered to express the mixed emotions that all of us experience. That Henkes is able to bring this perplexity--and its sometimes sweet solutions--to a child's level is his gift. (Reviewed Aug. 1996)0688128971Ilene Cooper
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Lilly the mouse idolizes her teacher Mr. Slinger, but when she comes to school flaunting three jingly quarters, movie-star glasses and a purple plastic purse "that played a jaunty tune when it was opened," she interrupts Mr. Slinger's lessons on "Types of Cheese" and words that rhyme with "mice." After one too many disruptions, he confiscates the purse until the day's end. Lilly, humiliated, takes revenge by slipping a mean drawing into Mr. Slinger's book bagonly to open her purse and find a conciliatory note from her hero. Caldecott honoree Henkes (Owen) understands Lilly's enthusiasm for her prize possessions, but astutely shows that Lilly goes too far when she acts up in class ("She's in trouble," whispers a classmate in a voice-bubble aside). The perfectionistic watercolor-and-ink illustrations, in vignettes and panels, are as sharp as the narration. Henkes communicates Lilly's emotions through her eyes, so that when she goes from "sad" to "furious," her eyebrows shift from U-shaped dips to hard slants; he also enlivens his scenes with tiny details, like Mr. Slinger's copy of Stuart Little. The author/artist offers useful, timeless advice for apologizing to a friend and resolving a conflict. A sympathetic and wise treatment. Ages 4-up. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2Lilly loves everything about schooleven the squeaky chalk and the cafeteria food. But most of all, she loves her teacher, Mr. Slinger, who is a sharp dresser and greets his students with an uncharacteristic "Howdy." The little mouse will do anything for himuntil he refuses to allow her to interrupt lessons to show the class her new movie-star sunglasses, three shiny quarters, and purple plastic purse. Seething with anger, she writes a mean story about him and places it in his book bag at the end of the day. But when she looks in her purse, she discovers that he has written her a kind note and even left her a bag of treats. Filled with remorse, Lilly sets out to make amends. Rich vocabulary and just the right amount of repetition fuse perfectly with the watercolor and black-pen illustrations. With a few deft strokes, Henkes changes Lilly's facial expressions and body language to reveal a full range of emotions. When she realizes how unfair she has been, Lilly shrinks smaller and smaller. When all ends well, she leaps for joy in her familiar red boots right out of the picture's frame. Clever dialogue and other funny details will keep readers looking and laughing. As the cover and end papers attest, Lilly emerges once again a star.Marianne Saccardi, Norwalk Community-Technical College, CT (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Illustrated by Peter McCarty. Dad and son take a nighttime road trip across the prairie to the mountains, riding off into the sunset with a gratifying exchange: "'How long can I stay up?' 'As late as you want.'" Not only does the nameless narrator get to stay up late, he takes the wheel so Dad can open his thermos, helps change a flat, shows off his pitching under the stars, and, as dawn approaches, has some breakfast and suddenly sees the mountains: "'We made it,' I say. 'Let's go set up the tent.'" A perfect bedtime-beckoning for would-be roamers, the story is partnered by soft and silvery pencil drawings - seemingly set in the 1950s - that capture the mystery of the night and the affection between child and parent. Dads, of course, will love this book, and kids will be more than willing to go along for the ride. r.s. Judith Ross Enderle and Stephanie Gordon Tessler Nell Nugget and the Cow Caper Illustrated by Paul Yalowitz. With text and illustration fitting together tight as a well-cinched cinch, this young Western gallops along with Nell Nugget of the Bar None Ranch searching for her missing cow, Goldie. "Nell looked high till noon. Nell looked low till sunset. 'Goldie!' she called and called. But there was no trace of her best cow. So clip cloppity clip Nell and Pay Dirt rode back to the ranch. And her little dog, Dust, trailed behind." The rhythmic prose keeps pace, and the perp, Nasty Galoot, a.k.a. "the baddest bad man anywhere," proves no match for Nell and her trusty sidekicks. The colored pencil art is light in tone, but the humor as expressed through line, position, and composition in the minimalist drawings has plenty of intensity. Wittily cow-mottled endpapers enclose this romp of a roundup; pair with Stanley and Karas's Saving Sweetness (reviewed below) for a tribute to tough young gals in the big bad West. e.s.w. Nancy Farmer Runnery Granary Illustrated by Jos. A. Smith. Mr. Runnery's mill grinds the grain that the farmers store in Mrs. Runnery's seemingly impervious stone granary. One day, Mrs. Runnery discovers that some of the grain is missing, and the family tries to figure out what is eating it. Thinking the culprit may be weevils, they catch spiders to guard the grain. When the spiders do not help, they try big, tough farm cats - but whatever is eating the grain is so big that it frightens the cats. Granny Runnery has the answer: gnomes. And the only way to get rid of gnomes is to make gnome paper, with "hiccups and honey and hair" and "money and marbles and meat." The family puts the gnome paper on the ceiling, catches the gnomes, and sends them, livid at being caught, down the river in a boat. The text tells the fantastical story in a direct, matter-of-fact style. The watercolor illustrations set the story in medieval times among clean, prosperous-looking buildings and sunny woods filled with thick-trunked trees. The gnomes, when they are finally seen, are each a different vivid color and appropriately grotesque. An unusual original trickster tale. lolly robinson Arthur Geisert, Author-Illustrator Roman Numerals I to MM (Numerabilia Romana Uno Ad Duo Mila): Liber De Difficillimo Computando Numerum Latin may be a dead language, but the Roman system of enumeration is alive and well in an imaginative picture book featuring a cast of thousands. The agile porkers portrayed in Geisert's earlier works such as Oink and Pigs from A to Z (both Houghton) return in a classical mode as visible manifestations of abstract concepts. The seven Roman numerals - I, V, X, L, C, D, and M - are introduced in a series of meticulously etched vignettes that instruct readers to count the number of pigs in each picture, including a double-page spread with - count 'em - MM of the species clustered on a hillside. The book proceeds to elaborate on these basic principles by demonstrating, again with the aid of the porcine actors, how numerals are combined to make an elaborate counting system with amazing permutations. Meanwhile, the characters embark on a series of adventures, adding interest and variety to the presentation and more opportunities for audience participation. By setting his action in a farming community that may or may not be the site of a ruined villa, Geisert segues neatly from episode to episode, making an ancient civilization relevant once again. Learning should be fun, and this approach to a potentially deadly subject is challenging and unusual, with appeal for those who revel in examining minute details. m.m.b. H Kevin Henkes, Author-Illustrator Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse The Ramona Quimby of picture books, that beguiling mouse-child, Lilly, a major presence in Chester's Way and Julius, the Baby of the World (both Greenwillow), takes center stage in a deliciously funny look at the traumas that can upset even the most dedicated young scholars. "Lilly," proclaims the minimal introduction, "loved school." And the initial pages provide ample justification for her attitude through a series of masterfully executed vignettes celebrating pointy pencils, squeaky chalk, long shiny hallways for running, one's own personal desk, and lunch with fish sticks and chocolate milk every Friday. But most of all, school means Mr. Slinger, whose patterned shirts, brilliant ties, elegant glasses, and pupil-centered methods, particularly the "Lightbulb Lab where great ideas are born," confer instant popularity. Thoroughly enchanted, Lilly wants to be a teacher until one fateful Monday when she brings her weekend shopping treasures to school: sunglasses decorated with diamonds, three shiny quarters, and a purple plastic purse that plays music when opened. Naturally, she can't wait to demonstrate her wonders; naturally, the unflappable Mr. Slinger has to quash her efforts. Not one to be easily thwarted, Lilly plots her revenge until Mr. Slinger's final gesture, a thoughtful note and a packet of tasty snacks, makes her feel miserably small - a process made visible in an emotionally charged, carefully planned sequence. With the help of her parents and the understanding Mr. Slinger, Lilly puts her world to rights in a sensitively crafted, dazzlingly logical conclusion that teaches more about good manners - and good teachers - than any number of manuals. Kevin Henkes just gets better and better with each book. A skilled caricaturist, he conveys variations in mood with economy and charm. His concepts have enough subtle humor to entertain adults without ignoring his intended audience; his texts are precise and imaginative; his illustrations remarkable for expressive lines, delicate hatching, and superb composition. As Lilly and her classmates would say, "Wow!" m.m.b. Amy Hest Baby Duck and the Bad Eyeglasses Illustrated by Jill Barton. Readers first met the strong-willed Baby Duck in In the Rain with Baby Duck (Candlewick), and they will be delighted to encounter her again, this time grappling with her dislike for new glasses. Her parents try to cheer her up, but it takes Grampa to turn the situation around. Grampa points out that he has glasses (red ones!) just like Baby Duck's. Then he shows her that she can still "twirl three times without falling down," and her glasses will not fall off. Finally, he demonstrates the real advantage of her glasses - she can read her name painted on the side of her new Baby-sized rowboat. Baby Duck will remind readers of the Hobans' Frances as she makes up little songs to express her many feelings about life and its challenges. Barton's large watercolors are warm and full of life. Through posture and facial expression, the illustrations satisfyingly convey Baby Duck's dejection about the glasses, her parents' concern, and Grampa's understanding. m.v.k. Amy Hest Jamaica Louise James Illustrated by Sheila White Samton. Nancy Poydar, Author-Illustrator Cool Ali Each of these picture books tells of a child who gives gifts of storytelling through art. Poydar's Ali "loved to draw," and Hest and Samton's Jamaica Louise says, "Everything I see is something I want to draw." Both girls live in urban environments that are improved by the girls' artistic talents. One hot summer day, Ali takes her sidewalk chalk and draws the things that everyone needs - a little lake for Mrs. Frye to dip her toes into, a beach umbrella, the North Wind. When a summer storm comes and washes away the drawings but cools everyone off, the neighbors celebrate Ali's gifts to them, chanting her name and clapping. Poydar's illustrations express wilted heat of the summer day and the progressively cheerful crowd as they enjoy Ali's artwork. Ali's drawings are appropriately childlike; they are done with pastel to look like chalk, but the rest of the scene is created with watercolor and pencil. With direct address, Jamaica Louise James pulls the audience right into the story. After asking the reader, "Want to hear my big idea?" Jamaica explains why her name is on a plaque in a New York City subway station. Jamaica's tale is irresistible. She worries about her grandmother selling tokens all day in a gloomy station, so for Grammy's birthday she surprises her by hanging her paintings all over the walls of the station. Grammy and the passengers love it, and commuters pause for a minute to talk to each other and smile. Jamaica uses her gifts as an artist to cheer up her grandmother and as a bonus gives a gift to the community. Hest's characters are each distinct, engaging individuals, and Jamaica's family of women - daughter, mother, and grandmother - is portrayed as strong and caring. Beginning with the glowing blue-and-gold endpapers of the New York City skyline, the artwork is as exuberant and powerful as the story. Paintings fill the pages and run off the edges (they, like Jamaica, cannot be contained). Samton uses a rich, vibrant palette in which purples and blues brighten up the grays of the city. These two picture books agree that children can give important gifts to the people they care about. m.v.k. Arthur Howard, Author-Illustrator When I Was Five "When I was five / I wanted to be an astronaut / or a cowboy / or both. / . . . this was my favorite secret hiding place, / and this was my best friend, Mark." A boy describes his aspirations, his favorite things, and his best friend, back when he was five. But "now I am six / and I want to be a major-league baseball player / or a deep-sea diver. / . . . this is my second-best secret hiding place (my favorite one is a secret), / and this is my best friend, Mark." In fact, all his preferences have changed slightly, except for his best friend: "Some things never change." The brief text is shown written in a large, childlike hand over the bold mixed-media illustrations. While the concept and execution could easily have crossed the line into humor at a child's expense, Arthur Howard has managed to keep the book respectful and child-centered. Through subtle details, we see that the narrator has indeed become more sophisticated, and he knows it. Both text and art demonstrate the self-assurance acquired at this age, ringing true in every detail. The art uses a heavy, confident pencil line in a cartooned style, crisply and authoritatively colored with gouache and watercolor, while the backgrounds are more subtly colored and shaded. lolly robinson Anne Hunter, Author-Illustrator Possum's Harvest Moon g Possum, a hospitable soul, finds the glorious harvest moon the perfect excuse for an end-of-the-season party, but his friends are too busy preparing for winter to join him. Sadly, he contemplates the moon all alone, saying to himself, "How could they work on such a beautiful night?" As the moon rises higher, his friends have second thoughts. They begin arriving with all their friends and relations, bringing refreshments and music, and they eat and dance until the moon sets. Then, bidding one another farewell until spring, they all retire happily and sleepily to their winter's rest. The story is slight but cozy; gently lined and crosshatched paintings give an intimate feeling to the magnificent moon and the delighted party-goers in their perky party hats. a.a.f. Daniil Kharms First, Second Illustrated by Marc Rosenthal. Translated by Richard Pevear. The narrator of this offbeat tale steps out singing a song and soon meets up with his friend Pete; they then meet a "man no bigger than a jug" and another who is so long that they cannot see his feet. As the four companions set out together, they encounter a number of obstacles to their differing speeds and sizes, but they quickly find that with a little creativity and cooperation they are on their way. Eventually, they find just the right modes of transportation for all (the long man on an elephant, the short man on a little dog, and the narrator and Pete on a donkey). "We were all happy and whistling songs. . . . But where we went and what happened to us next is another story." The early comic-style art, recalling the Katzenjammer Kids, is a perfect complement to the silly story, first published in a Russian children's magazine in the 1930s. The brisk, expressive illustrations are filled with small jokes and details such as dotted lines and arrows diagramming the characters' solutions to their problems. The exceptionally clever page design varies from spread to spread, with text and art accommodating each other expertly for optimal use of space without interference. l.a. Mary Kay Kroeger and Louise Borden Paperboy Illustrated by Ted Lewin. "Extra! Extra! Read all about it!" It's 1927 in Cincinnati, and the corner of Hunt and Main is Willie's territory, his place to sell the newspaper. The important story of the day is the heavyweight championship fight between Gene Tunney and the "workingman's hero," Jack Dempsey. When Tunney's victory is proclaimed, Willie would like to stay in bed, but reports to work and tries to sell the unpopular news with poor results. Willie's grit is apparent in this biographical picture book based on Kroeger's father's childhood. Carefully detailed watercolors of Willie's family and neighbors claim the foreground of each double-page spread, while striking black-and-white scenes of the fight form the backdrop. The close integration of text and illustration effectively brings a slice of history to life. e.s.w. Emily Arnold McCully, Author-Illustrator The Bobbin Girl A she did with Little Kit, McCully tells a story while giving her reader a glimpse of a specific historic period. Rebecca is a ten-year-old bobbin girl in the Lowell, Massachusetts, mills in the 1930s. She admires an older girl who lives in the same boarding house, and through her becomes involved in the struggle for fair wages and working conditions. Soon Rebecca, inspired by Ralph Waldo Emerson's lecture on self-reliance, leads her co-workers in Spinning Room #2 in a walk-out. The story is complex and includes many historic details and references; there is also an author's note that gives a brief biography of the real mill worker on whom Rebecca is based. With these many interesting details, the book works better as a piece of social history than as a picture book, and Rebecca is more a means for exploring her times than a fully developed character. McCully's watercolor illustrations include many details that help set the period, with the dark palette and use of shadows conveying the feeling of the poorly lit mills. Although story comes second to setting, this is an accessible introduction to the Industrial Revolution. m.v.k. Amy MacDonald The Spider Who Created the World Illustrated by G. Brian Karas. At a time when the world was "just a dream," the spider Nobb looks for a place to put down her egg, which she has been carrying on her back. The Moon, the Sun, and the Cloud rebuff her requests for a stopping place, objecting to her "tiny sharp fangs," her "sticky white thread," and her "eight itchy legs." Only the Air welcomes her. Nobb weaves a web with her thread, and waits. One by one, she catches and slices off pieces of the Moon, the Sun, and the Cloud, which she combines in different ways, squeezing water out of the Cloud with her eight itchy legs to create oceans and wrapping the Moon around the Sun to create earth and its fiery core. Having succeeded in making a place for her egg, she rests it between two mountains, where it hatches all the creatures that live in the world. MacDonald ties up her story neatly: Nobb still remembers her only friend, which is why Spiders continue to live in the air. The book's simple and satisfying language and its judicious use of repetition - each time the spider is rejected, she is told, "Go away from here, Nobb . . . There's no room for you in my home" - make this a candidate for repeated sharing. Karas's evocative, dreamlike acrylic and gouache paintings are a departure from his usual humorous style. The bold lines that define Nobb's body and legs perfectly contrast with the amorphous, celestial, color-saturated backgrounds that anchor the other elements on each page. The book's overall design is pleasing, with each block of text similarly shaped and placed mostly in double-page spreads, only varying when Nobb finds a home for her egg. ellen fader Jane Read Martin and Patricia Marx Now I Will Never Leave the Dinner Table Illustrated by Roz Chast. Take one imaginative younger sister, add a perfect older sibling as the baby sitter, toss with a serving of spinach, and you have the formula for a guffaw-a-minute sitcom with no laugh track needed. Accused of hiding spinach in her pocket by her sister Joy, Patty Jane Pepper is forced to remain at the table until she takes a bite from what seems to be a mountain of the stuff. But, being Patty Jane, she is determined to outwait her fate, meanwhile envisioning all the reasons why Joy should be out of her life - forever. The ultimate solution: send her to live with the childless couple down the street who are "approximately 123 years old (each)." In the end, Patty Jane relents. Joy can stay, "unless the next time she baby-sits she tries to make me eat succotash." Watercolor-and-line illustrations effectively augment the deadpan text with flamboyant, detailed images to match Patty Jane's unbridled style. Particularly effective is Chast's contrasting of Patty Jane's contemporary home with the overstuffed neatness of the elderly couple's - subtle but telling. A sequel to Now Everybody Really Hates Me, this may be a short book, but it takes plenty of time to absorb all the nuances. Bouncy, brash, and beguiling. m.m.b. William Mayne Pandora Illustrated by Dietlind Blech. A simple story of a cat who leaves home and returns is given interest and dignity by Mayne's distinctive literary style. Pandora, a beautiful black cat, is indulged and cosseted by her owners until a new baby arrives. The baby occupies their time and affections; Pandora is ignored and finally reduced to sleeping in the shed. Her pride hurt, she goes to live in the wild. The arrival of two kittens ("I love them . . . Man and woman loved their little one too, more than anything. . . . I understand them now") brings her home, where her owners have realized their neglect, and all is forgiven on both sides. Ranged around the tea table, they are happy, "cozy between the teapot and the toast." Comforting but unsentimental, with engaging illustrations of warm fires, tea cozies, the English countryside, and glossy, raven-black Pandora and her kittens. a.a.f. H Margaret Miller, Author-Photographer Now I'm Big Margaret Miller knows her audience. Previous photo-concept books (Can You Guess?; Whose Hat? [also Greenwillow]) demonstrate an exact understanding of toddler humor and cognitive ability. Now I'm Big manifests the same understanding of older children's accomplishments and abilities and their pride in same. The book opens with six separate pictures of six different infants: "When we were born, we were very small." On the facing page is a group picture of (presumably) those six babies grown up into preschoolers/kindergartners: "Now we're big!" (Miller understands that while infants don't interact with each other, preschoolers have become social animals.) From then on, one child's face from the group picture is highlighted, and that child talks about how he or she does things differently now that he or she is older. "When I was little / I wore diapers and my parents dressed me. [Page turn] Now I'm big! I wear underwear, I choose my own clothes, and I dress myself." The book design, besides being clean and attractive, is entirely appropriate for the subject: the photographs that accompany the descriptions of baby behavior are small and closely cropped, while those of the preschoolers are larger and more expansive, taking in much more of the world. This book handles the ever-fascinating topics of big vs. little, kids vs. babies, and me vs. used-to-be-me superbly. m.v.p. Chris Raschka, Author-Illustrator The Blushful Hippopotamus It's hard for Roosevelt the hippopotamus to enjoy playing with his best friend, Lombard the bird, with his older sister watching over. She seems to be lurking everywhere, eager to embarrass him: "'Are you blushing again, baby brother?' she asks, when I'm working on my counting." Under her eye, he can do nothing but fumble, and she revels in making him painfully self-conscious of all his little mistakes. When Roosevelt questions the truth of his sister's disparaging remarks, Lombard comes to the rescue, pointing out all that is wonderful about the young hippo. Raschka gives this uplifting story freshness with his musical words and pictures. Like his writing, Raschka's artwork is spontaneous and amusing, and only seemingly simple. The animal figures are gestural, described with loose brushstrokes placed in simple yellow and pink backgrounds. The subtle details of the illustrations reveal themselves as sophisticated elements that give visual form to Roosevelt's state of mind. As Roosevelt grows increasingly confident, he grows big enough to fill the page, while his sister shrinks and almost disappears. She grows smaller and smaller, taking on the "blushful" pink hue that had toned her brother's page, while he becomes a warm, bold yellow. At times when Roosevelt is most uncomfortable, so are we, looking at close-up abstract, almost unrecognizable drawings of his sister. A warmhearted story of growth and friendship told with hip-hop dialogue and drawings. elizabeth b. woodruff Phyllis Root Aunt Nancy and Old Man Trouble Illustrated by David Parkins. "Aunt Nancy should of knowed Old Man Trouble was in the neighborhood. Hadn't the spring out back gone and dried up this morning when she went to fill her water bucket? . . . Here was the sun barely poking up in the sky and already bad luck was hopping around like rabbits at a family reunion." Peppered with homey colloquialisms, Phyllis Root's text is at once vivid and spare. When Old Man Trouble comes calling on feisty, gray-haired Aunt Nancy, she has no choice but to let him in. He proceeds to cause a series of minor mishaps, all the while grinning and feigning politeness. Aunt Nancy craftily declares each mishap a blessing in disguise. "'Don't nothing bother you, ma'am?' says Old Man Trouble through his teeth. 'Not today it don't,' says Aunt Nancy, fetching her rocking chair. 'I just knowed it was my lucky day when I saw that spring dried up this morning. No more mud tracking up my floor. No more dampness aching in my bones.'" So Old Man Trouble continues on his way, making the spring run again as he departs, in a final effort to annoy Aunt Nancy. David Parkins's warm paintings are both respectful and sly, expertly matching the tone of the text. Aunt Nancy, deceptively portrayed as a simple country woman, is an intelligent, crafty nemesis to the villain. Old Man Trouble is shown as a stout city gentleman in a frock coat and top hat with a wickedly caricatured face, including large white saw-toothed teeth in a perpetual grin. Black-and-white silhouettes decorate some of the text pages, adding to the effect of the crisp and classic book design. lolly robinson Allen Say, Author-Illustrator Emma's Rug The small, ordinary, shaggy rug was given to Emma, a beautiful Asian-American child, when she was born. As she grows older, she carries the much-loved rug everywhere, often staring at it (though never walking on it). Emma amazes her parents and teachers when she begins to draw and paint. Her artwork is so skillfully done that no one believes Emma when she tells them that she simply copies what she sees. And then Mother washes the rug. A horrified Emma believes she can no longer create, until she sees images on bare walls, in the garden, all around her: "'I can see you!' Emma cried with joy." A straightforward text and arresting, translucent watercolors dramatically portray how the young artist sees her world. Each carefully rendered illustration conveys a sense of Emma's introspection and isolation as well as the unfolding drama created by the apparent loss of her artistic inspiration. Color provides an effective focus in each portrait of Emma as the story moves to its gratifying conclusion. m.b.s. Joseph Slate Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten Illustrated by Ashley Wolff. In an ingenious alphabet (and animal-identification) book, Miss Bindergarten and her new students get ready for the first day of school. "Adam Krupp wakes up. Brenda Heath brushes her teeth. Christopher Beaker finds his sneaker. Miss Bindergarten gets ready for kindergarten." Adam is an alligator, Brenda a beaver, Christopher a cat; throughout the book, the first letter of each child's name not only advances the alphabet but also corresponds with the kind of animal it is (the book concludes with a helpful chart). Alternating double-page spreads follow Miss Bindergarten in various stages of transforming last year's dusty, bare classroom into a bright, welcoming, stimulating place. As the alphabet progresses, the time gets nearer to the beginning of the school day. Finally, after "Zach Blair finds his chair," all gather together at Miss Bindergarten's plaid-shoe-clad feet, (Miss B. is quite a dresser), and the first day of kindergarten is underway, with children drawing, painting, building with blocks, and playing together. (Though, reassuringly for reluctant first-timers, author and illustrator have included one unwilling child - "Ian Lowe says, 'I won't go!'" - who remains apart from the others, absorbed in a book.) There's so much to look at in Ashley Wolff's cheerful, detailed, contemporary watercolor and gouache illustrations: the vagaries of Miss Bindergarten's dress; the antics of her companion cockatoo; the recognizable picture-book titles on the kindergarten shelves; the complementary alphabet frieze on the wall. The internal rhymes in each short sentence and the recurring refrain make the book a natural for reading aloud (and for chanting along with). "Have fun!" says the note stuck to the back of Miss Bindergarten's jumper (did that mischievous cockatoo put it there?); it would be hard not to. m.v.p. H Diane Stanley Saving Sweetness g Illustrated by G. Brian Karas. In this Texas tale, the resourceful little Sweetness lives in an orphanage run by mean, miserable Mrs. Sump, who makes all the orphans scrub the floors with toothbrushes. When Sweetness, unhappy with her fate, runs away into the Western desert, the beef-witted but kindly sheriff sets out to rescue her. Forgetting to bring water, food, or a blanket, he is oblivious to the fact that time after time it is he who is rescued by Sweetness. He tries to take her back to the orphanage, but for some reason she won't return. Finally, she bops the threatening outlaw Coyote Pete over the head with a rock - the sheriff thinks he has scared him into falling over - and the sheriff dimly begins to realize that Sweetness has an agenda for him. "'Well, sweet child,' I says to her, 'I knows I's a rough character, but if you was to agree to it, I could adopt you.' 'Pa!' says she, and she fell on me like Grandma on a chicken snake." Karas illustrates the old-fashioned melodrama with sharply cartoonish drawings set to witty effect against hand-colored photographs of the Western landscape. Very funny indeed. a.a.f. For Younger Readers Ages 5 to 8 Illustrated by Barry Moser. Twelve-year-old Willard is obsessed with baseball (his father has given him a love of the game). One afternoon in 1917, he and his father help pull Babe Ruth's car out of a ditch, and the best left-handed pitcher in the sport rewards Willard with one of his mitts. Many years later, Willard's daughter Ruth reveals a love of the sport as well, and on her tenth birthday her father arranges a trip to Braves Field in Boston to see Babe Ruth play. Willard's reunion with the man he worshipped for so many years is an eye-opener since he is a tired-looking "forty years old and fat," but Babe Ruth remembers the family. Poet Hall peppers his story with carefully chosen details - the hardship of the Great Depression, the 1928 election in which Ruth poses with a "Vote for Al Smith" sign pinned to his coat, the fun of listening to radio shows on the Arrow cabinet radio - that give the story a vibrant sense of time and place. These details add up to an understated but poignant story of pure and simple hero worship that passes through three generations of a family. Moser's watercolors play down the sentimentality that could have overwhelmed the book; instead, his pictures are filled with insightful portraits of Babe Ruth and of Willard's red-haired family, and with enough farm and rural scenes to clearly establish the book's setting. The full-page, full-color paintings every few pages break up the book's five chapters into easy-to-read-aloud innings. ellen fader Alan Schroeder Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. According to the author's note, Harriet Tubman's "cradle name" was Araminta; hence the nickname Minty. Minty - born around 1820 on the Brodas Plantation on Maryland's Eastern shore - was strong-willed, independent, outspoken; characteristics neither desired nor tolerated in a slave. So Mistress Brodas moves the eight-year-old Minty from house slave to field hand - much more arduous work - with the threat of "being sold South" always present. As Minty's desire for freedom grows, so does her unwillingness to tolerate the abuse and cruelty of plantation life. Recognizing her growing impatience, Minty's father teaches her survival skills: how to identify the North Star (known as the "Drinking Gourd"), how to swim, how to read moss on trees. Minty knows instinctively that one day she will find the road that, "when she had the courage, would carry her to freedom." This fictionalized account of the early life of the woman who became known as the conductor of the Underground Railroad is based on facts gleaned from the 1869 biography Harriet Tubman: The Moses of Her People. Quick action and dialogue create a taut story, although it is illustration that shapes the characters. Pinkney's well-crafted watercolors portray a highly idealized young Harriet (as well as parents and extended family) while depicting an unswervingly angry Mrs. Brodas. Pencil lines emerge from the translucent paints to provide detail and depth. m.b.s. Camille Yarbrough The Little Tree Growin' in the Shade Illustrated by Tyrone Geter. Yarbrough has skillfully woven the variegated threads of African-American history into a memorable story for young readers that speaks of the rich culture of the Africans brought in captivity to America. It tells of a people who "refuse[d] to die small," symbolized by the shade-covered small tree that grew against all odds. Then there is the story of the Negro spirituals, the sounds of praise and solace and cleverly disguised coded messages of plans for escape - the music form academically called the root of rhythm and blues. The narration further describes the unbroken thread of civil rights leaders across the years and their tireless quest for freedom. Selecting a warm family gathering at a concert in the park as the background, Yarbrough's informative text is filled with a rhythmic use of language - poetic, alliterative, onomatopoeic - that begs to be read aloud. Geter's black-and-white sketches capture the many moods of the text - celebration, religious fervor, and family love. henrietta m. smith From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Lilly (Julius, The Baby of the World, 1991, etc.) is back, and in school. She loves everything about it, especially her wonderful teacher, Mr. Slinger. One morning Lilly is happier than ever because her grandmother has given her movie star sunglasses, three shiny quarters, and a purple plastic purse that plays a tune when it's opened. She's dying to show her new things to her friends. But when she talks out of turn and distracts the class, Mr. Slinger confiscates her treasures for the day. Suddenly he becomes ``BIG FAT MEAN MR. STEALING TEACHER!'' in Lilly's eyes, and she leaves him a note telling him so. Then she finds Mr. Slinger's own note to her, along with some snacks: ``Today was a difficult day./Tomorrow will be better.'' Helped by her parents, a remorseful Lilly manages a heartwarming reconciliation with her teacher. Henkes once again demonstrates his direct line to the roller- coaster emotions of small children. With a slightly more complicated plot than those of Lilly's previous adventures, this one employs understated humor throughout. The illustrations do an exceptional job of amplifying the text: Lilly dances with excitement, flashes with anger, wanes in remorse, and leaps right off the page with joy. (Picture book. 5+)
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