All of Elmsville is excited to hear that Mr. Duncan and his family are off to N.Y.C. to visit the great Serena Katz—but is she who they think she is? The postmistress remembers her as ``the Katz Meow,'' the West Side's best pool-player; a neighbor as a show-stopping magician; another as the creator of fabulous wedding cakes; and yet another as ``Krazy Katz,'' motorcycle racer. Mr. Duncan knows only that she runs a hardware store and buys his paint. Alley, whose watercolors are, as usual, lively and well-crafted, does a wonderful job of building anticipation, depicting everyone's memories but showing only a glimpse of Serena Katz's hand or foot in each scene. When at last the Duncans reach her door, they find a pleasant little old lady in sneakers who briskly sends them on a whirlwind tour of the city. Are the stories about her true? Oh, yes, and more besides. Has she left all that behind? Not likely: the spirit of adventure is ageless. A treat for readers who find Miss Rumphius a bit too genteel. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 31, 1992
ISBN: 0-02-744901-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1992
Trickling, bubbling, swirling, rushing, a river flows down from its mountain beginnings, past peaceful country and bustling city on its way to the sea. Hooper (The Drop in My Drink, 1998, etc.) artfully evokes the water’s changing character as it transforms from “milky-cold / rattling-bold” to a wide, slow “sliding past mudflats / looping through marshes” to the end of its journey. Willey, best known for illustrating Geraldine McCaughrean’s spectacular folk-tale collections, contributes finely detailed scenes crafted in shimmering, intricate blues and greens, capturing mountain’s chill, the bucolic serenity of passing pastures, and a sense of mystery in the water’s shadowy depths. Though Hooper refers to “the cans and cartons / and bits of old wood” being swept along, there’s no direct conservation agenda here (for that, see Debby Atwell’s River, 1999), just appreciation for the river’s beauty and being. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: June 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0792-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000
Nolen and Nelson offer a smaller, but no less gifted counterpart to Big Jabe (2000) in this new tall tale. Shortly after being born one stormy night, Rose thanks her parents, picks a name, and gathers lightning into a ball—all of which is only a harbinger of feats to come. Decked out in full cowboy gear and oozing self-confidence from every pore, Rose cuts a diminutive, but heroic figure in Nelson’s big, broad Western scenes. Though she carries a twisted iron rod as dark as her skin and ropes clouds with fencing wire, Rose overcomes her greatest challenge—a pair of rampaging twisters—not with strength, but with a lullaby her parents sang. After turning tornadoes into much-needed rain clouds, Rose rides away, “that mighty, mighty song pressing on the bull’s-eye that was set at the center of her heart.” Throughout, she shows a reflective bent that gives her more dimension than most tall-tale heroes: a doff of the Stetson to her and her creators. (author’s note) (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-15-216472-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Silver Whistle/Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2003
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