This charming narrative of a determined girl’s artistic talent and will to succeed in the family business makes a compelling...
A girl in 17th-century Paris weaves a small tapestry as a gift for her father, and her work receives special recognition from Louis XIV.
Thérèse is part of an artistic family whose members all work in the king’s service. Her father and oldest brother are painters, and another brother is a weaver in the famous Gobelins Manufactory, which creates tapestries for the king’s palaces. Thérèse and her mother prepare yarn for the tapestries, but Thérèse wants to become a weaver herself, even though women were not permitted to work as weavers at that time. With the help of family and friends, Thérèse uses a painting by her father as the design for a tapestry that she weaves at home. The king is enchanted by her work, and he commissions a large version of her tapestry for his new palace at Versailles. Meticulous research by both author and illustrator makes the complex process of tapestry weaving accessible to all readers, but Thérèse’s story will be of particular interest to those interested in fiber arts. Detailed illustrations in jewel tones help create a believable personality for Thérèse and a convincing setting in the workshop in Paris. The final pages include a helpful author’s note on historical background, a glossary, a list of French terms with pronunciation, and a map of the Gobelins facility.
This charming narrative of a determined girl’s artistic talent and will to succeed in the family business makes a compelling story on an unusual topic. (Picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: March 8, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-60606-473-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Getty Publications
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2016
Warp back in time for a prehistoric spinoff adventure with Geronimo Stilton’s ancestor, Geronimo Stiltonoot, in Old Mouse City.
Readers will find Geronimo Stiltonoot a familiar character, outfitted differently from descendant Stilton yet still running a newspaper and having wild adventures. In this introduction to prehistoric mouse life, someone has stolen the most powerful and important artifact housed by the Old Mouse City Mouseum: the Stone of Fire. It’s up to Stiltonoot and his fellow sleuth and friend, Hercule Poirat, to uncover not only the theft, but a dangerous plot that jeopardizes all of Old Mouse City. As stand-ins for the rest of the Stilton cast, Stiltonoot has in common with Stilton a cousin named Trap, a sister named Thea and a nephew named Benjamin. The slapstick comedy and design, busy with type changes and color, will be familiar for Stilton readers. The world is fictionalized for comedic effect, featuring funny uses for dinosaurs and cheeky references to how far back in time they are, with only the occasional sidebar that presents facts. The story takes a bit long to get started, spending a lot of time reiterating the worldbuilding information laid out before the first chapter. But once it does start, it is an adventure Stilton readers will enjoy. Geronimo Stiltonoot has the right combination of familiarity and newness to satisfy Stilton fans. (Fiction. 6-10)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-44774-4
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2012
Innocuous adventuring on the smallest of scales.
The Mouse and the Motorcycle (1965) upgrades to The Mice and the Rolls-Royce.
In Windsor Castle there sits a “dollhouse like no other,” replete with working plumbing, electricity, and even a full library of real, tiny books. Called Queen Mary’s Dollhouse, it also plays host to the Whiskers family, a clan of mice that has maintained the house for generations. Henry Whiskers and his cousin Jeremy get up to the usual high jinks young mice get up to, but when Henry’s little sister Isabel goes missing at the same time that the humans decide to clean the house up, the usually bookish big brother goes on the adventure of his life. Now Henry is driving cars, avoiding cats, escaping rats, and all before the upcoming mouse Masquerade. Like an extended version of Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Two Bad Mice (1904), Priebe keeps this short chapter book constantly moving, with Duncan’s peppy art a cute capper. Oddly, the dollhouse itself plays only the smallest of roles in this story, and no factual information on the real Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House is included at the tale’s end (an opportunity lost).
Innocuous adventuring on the smallest of scales. (Fantasy. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6575-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
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