Review by New York Times Review
The great children's author Virginia Lee Burton was "quite magical," writes Rinker ("Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site"). An accomplished dancer, artist and textile designer, Burton was also an attentive mother who realized the role "big trucks" played in her two sons' imaginations. Magical, indeed: We watch her nimble pencil drawings grow, with the boys' help, into classics like "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel." The polished art by Rocco ("Blackout") has an infectious energy, nailing the mid-20th-century aesthetic. SONIA DELAUNAY A Life of Color. By Cara Manes. Illustrated by Fatinha Ramos. 40 pp. Museum of Modern Art. $19.95. (Picture book; ages 5 - 9) "Art is all around us, always," the early 20th-century artist Sonia Delaunay says to her son in this ingenious book, part biography, part lesson in color and design theory. Manes, a curator at the Museum of Modern Art, has Delaunay, a pioneer of abstraction, take off in a colorful flying car to show her son the colors, patterns and textures that shape her work. Even sounds and feelings, she shows, can be incorporated into design. Ramos's lovely, playful art pulls off the tricky task of evoking Delaunay's while standing strongly on its own. RUTH BADER GINSBURG The Case of R.B.G. vs. Inequality. By Jonah Winter. Illustrated by Stacy Innerst. 40 pp. Abrams. $18.95. (Picture book; ages 6 -10) Structured like a legal argument to prove the injustices Ginsburg faced, this beautifully illustrated biography of the Supreme Court justice starts with her birth at a time when Jews faced "violence and vandalism" and daughters were "discouraged from going to college." You can almost hear the chorus of "That's not fair!" as Winter ("Lillian's Right to Vote") documents each fresh outrage Ginsburg stared down. "This happened right here in America," he reminds us. Innerst makes the pages look gently monumental, like R.B.G. herself. SERGEANT RECKLESS The True Story of the Little Horse Who Became a Hero. By Patricia McCormick. Illustrated by lacopo Bruno. 40 pp. Balzer and Bray. $17.99. (Picture book; ages 6 -10) Once there was a brave little sorrel mare who lived m a war zone, and some resourceful Marines trained her to carry heavy ammunition under fire. McCormick ("Never Fall Down") excels at bringing thrilling nonfiction stories to young readers, and this picture book about the horse awarded two Purple Hearts enthralls. With cinematic art by Bruno ("Mesmerized") bringing the big cast to life, it's an approachable introduction to the Korean War and a heartwarming example of "the mysterious bond between humans and animals." SCHOMBURG The Man Who Built a Library. By Carole Boston Weatherford. Illustrated by Eric Velasquez. 48 pp. Candlewick. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 9 - 12) The remarkable life and achievements of the Afro-Puerto Rican scholar, collector and curator Arturo Schomburg have ideal chroniclers in Weatherford ( "Freedom in Congo Square") and Velasquez ("Grandma's Gift"). Arturo's lifelong passion for collecting books, they show, was about "correcting history for generations to come" to include the contributions of people of African descent. In Velasquez's proud, realistic art, Schomburg and the greats he championed - overlooked inventors, artists and revolutionaries - tower. ONLINE An expanded visual presentation of this week's column is at nytimes.com/books.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [August 27, 2017]
Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* This enchanting portrayal of Virginia Lee Burton focuses primarily on the creation of her picture books Choo Choo (1937), Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel (1939), Katy and the Big Snow (1943), Maybelle the Cable Car (1952), and the Caldecott Award-winning The Little House (1942). Viewed by her neighbors in Folly Cove, beautiful Jinnee Burton is quite magical when she dances. But she is also a young mother who creates stories and art that bring big machines to life, delighting her two young sons, Aris and Michael. First she amazes Aris by sketching a full-size picture of a train that chugs off down the track. Next, after watching a digger truck with Michael, she draws him a steam shovel to call his very own. More characters and books follow, to the boys' satisfaction. The writer of Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site (2011), Rinker contributes a well-researched, nicely worded story incorporating larger-than-life elements. Made with colored pencil, watercolors, and digital media, Rocco's creative illustrations include his interactive interpretations of scenes from Burton's books, including one in which the artist leans out of the Little House to finish drawing its exterior. Prime material for classroom author studies and a lively, imaginative introduction to Burton's classic picture books.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Rinker and Rocco reveal how Virginia Lee Burton transformed her children's love of powerful vehicles into a string of picture books, including her Caldecott Medal-winning The Little House. Burton's study of art and dance are on full display in Rocco's mixed-media illustrations, her movements balletic as she lays the groundwork for her illustrations in pencil. Rinker's exuberant text focuses on process ("First there is jump paper: white, white, white.... With a whoosh of black and some strokes of red and green, Aris and Michael meet... Katy!") and on the joy Burton's creations brought to her sons. Burton's fans will enjoy teasing out the visual references to her work, both in Rocco's use of color and form (including several circular vignettes), while feeling intimately connected to how these treasured stories came into being. Ages 4-7. Illustrator's agent: Rob Weisbach, Rob Weisbach Creative Management. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-A coal engine, a steam shovel, a snowplow, and a cable car are the big machines that Rinker and Rocco celebrate in the story of Virginia Lee Burton's creative life. Burton's young children, Aris and Michael, clamored for stories about big machines, so "Jinnee" responded by creating Choo Choo, Mary Anne, and the others. For readers not familiar with the stories, Rinker summarizes each over a few pages, imagining Aris and Michael's reactions. Rinker also introduces an element of wonder in the narration, describing Burton as magical and her artists' tools as wands. Rocco's illustrations help convey the magic of creation: to complete the top of Choo Choo's cab, he shows Burton climbing up the ladder that she has just sketched so that she can reach. Rocco also pays tribute to Burton's early passion for ballet by depicting her creation of the big machines as graceful full-body gestures. Elements of Burton's illustrations and attention to design appear in Rocco's art: the puff of smoke above Choo Choo's smokestack contains a visual summary of the engine's adventures. This is a lovely tribute, both to a marvelous creator of books for children as well as the creative process itself. -VERDICT -Recommended for most -picture book -biography collections.-Jennifer -Costa, Cambridge Public Library, MA © Copyright 2017. 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
Beloved author-illustrator Virginia Lee Burton receives a picture-book biography treatment, but not the standard childhood-to-adulthood story. We meet Virginia, known as Jinnee, when she is already the mother of two boys who love trains and trucks. Rinker explores the dichotomy between Jinnees pixie-like nature (we see her dancing and talking to small animals) and the boldly rendered illustrations in her books about trucks, trains, and other machinery (e.g., Choo Choo, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel), created to entertain her sons. The text and art are both at their best when Jinnee is illustrating, creating lifelike scenes out of blank paper and charcoal. While her sons watch her ideas come to life, we understand their excitement. Roccos paintings of the artist at work and his replicas of her illustrations are masterful. Other scenes depicting Jinnees magical side feel forced and somewhat static. But could anyone truly do justice to the unique Virginia Lee Burton? In the end, this book provides an intriguing, loving introduction to a picture-book icon. An afterword with photos reveals more about Burtons life and art. lolly robinson (c) Copyright 2017. 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
Virginia Lee Burton's big machines roar to new life in a new biography of the author. Rinker, author of Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site (2014; illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld), is right at home describing the life and times of big machines. "Ting, Ting, Ting!...CLINGETY-CLANG!" comes Maybelle the cable car. "CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!" says Katy the crawler tractor as she digs her way through a double-page spread of snow. Clearly a labor of love for Rocco, the illustrations demonstrate the same care for book design evident in Burton's work. Endpapers depict Burton's Little House encircled by big machines, an effect akin to the block-printed fabrics of the Folly Cove design group the illustrator worked with in Massachusetts. Rocco's illustrations capture the look, personality, and energy of the machines without being overly imitative, and he offers playful departures, such as the final double-page spread featuring a spirited procession of Choo Choo, Mary Anne the steam shovel, Katy, and Maybelle as "their stories come to lifequite magically / for Aris and Michael," Burton's sons, represented as her inspirations. The beautiful symbiosis of text and art works on several levelsas a biography, a study of the artist's creative process, and a demonstration of the themes of change and survival evident in Burton's picture books. Alive, bursting with color and action, this volume introduces Virginia Lee Burton to a new generation of big machine enthusiasts. (author's note) (Picture book/biography. 4-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
