Review by Booklist Review
Gr. 1-4. The world of the karate class comes into up-close focus in this startling, realistic picture book. Using rhymed couplets, Nevius explains what goes on in class: the children bow; the master enters, moving with strength and grace; the students do exercises, and then the energized stances and kicking begin. The text does a fine job of capturing both the precepts and the movements in relatively few words, but it's Thomson's amazing artwork that will make kids feel as though they are right with the students in the dojo. With the clarity of photographs and many in-your-face perspectives (a foot cracking through a wooden board), the pictures are reminiscent of some of Chris Van Allsburg's work. Thomson also knows how to manipulate light and dark, giving real heft to the art. Children can see the power in one boy's fist as he punches toward the page, and the multiethnic students' tumbling looks just as if the kids are really on a roll. An excellent afterword explains the history of karate and its philosophy as a defensive discipline. --Ilene Cooper Copyright 2004 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Starred Review. K-Gr 4-"Karate hour is starting now./Dressed and belted, we all bow." So begins a tribute to this ancient martial art. Using rhymed couplets that never strike a false note, Nevius carries readers through the mind and body exercises that make up a typical class. She deftly captures the excitement and energy of the experience as well as the discipline and commitment required to rise in rank. Thomson's realistic mixed-media artwork is a standout, using light, shadow, and perspective in a variety of interesting ways. The karate class itself is truly diverse, including boys and girls from a number of different ethnic backgrounds and the physically challenged. An informative, well-researched author's note on the history of karate is appended. An excellent addition on a popular subject.-Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Impressions of a typical karate class are presented in a serviceable rhyming text (""We show respect, walk to our place. / The master moves with strength and grace""). The hyperrealistic mixed-media illustrations use a variety of perspectives to convey energy and movement; they overdo the close-ups of feet, fists, and faces, however. An afterword provides fascinating information about the history and principles of karate. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Viewers will definitely feel like participants in this visit to a children's karate class. Using a palette of creams and grays against dark backgrounds (with color accents provided by variously colored belts), and lighting and low angles that give his close-up, photographically realistic figures a monumental look, Thomson depicts students warming up, practicing strikes and kicks, engaging in some light sparring, then lining up for a closing ritual. In her rhymed commentary and closing note, Nevius briefly describes what's going on--"We energize. Our muscles flex. / We raise our arms, protect our necks"--while introducing rudiments of karate's history and "aims to finish what someone else starts" philosophy. Despite the elaborate illustrations, this offers a more superficial view of karate's inner workings than Anne Rockwell's Chip and the Karate Kick (p. 447), but nonetheless makes an adequate first introduction for prospective karate-kas. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
