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JENNY AND THE GRAND OLD GREAT-AUNTS

Name: JENNY AND THE GRAND OLD GREAT-AUNTS
Author: Colby Rodowsky
ISBN: 0-02-777785-5

by Colby Rodowsky & illustrated by Barbara J. Roman ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 31, 1992

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From the author of several fine novels for young people (Sydney, Herself, 1989), a book for younger readers, with the familiar theme of a child making friends with an adult. Jenny is left for an afternoon with her father's elderly aunts, whom she hardly knows. At first, all three are stiff and tongue-tied; then, while Aunt Clare naps in her chair, Aunt Abby and Jenny tiptoe to the attic, where they explore a trunk full of wonderful toys and dance to the music of an old Victrola. When her parents return, Jenny and Dad (who used to enjoy staying with the aunts when he was a boy) share a secret: still stuck in Aunt Abby's hair are bits of the pink feather boa she twirled as they danced. Roman's attractive, soft color pencil illustrations nicely capture Jenny's perception of the ornate, dauntingly tidy Victorian house and the growing warmth between the child and the old ladies. The easily read story is skillfully written, with evocative details (the attic smells ``like the insides of pockets''). An appealing bridge to early chapter books. (Fiction/Young reader. 6-9)

Pub Date: March 31, 1992

ISBN: 0-02-777785-5

Page Count: 40

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1992

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
BEN AND THE SUDDEN TOO-BIG FAMILY
by Colby Rodowsky

- BOOK REVIEW
THAT FERNHILL SUMMER
by Colby Rodowsky

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NEXT-DOOR DOGS
by Colby Rodowsky & illustrated by Amy June Bates

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GOONEY BIRD GREENE

by Lois Lowry & illustrated by Middy Thomas ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2002

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Gooney Bird Greene (with a silent E) is not your average second grader. She arrives in Mrs. Pidgeon’s class announcing: “I’m your new student and I just moved here from China. I want a desk right smack in the middle of the room, because I like to be right smack in the middle of everything.” Everything about her is unusual and mysterious—her clothes, hairstyles, even her lunches. Since the second graders have never met anyone like Gooney Bird, they want to hear more about her. Mrs. Pidgeon has been talking to the class about what makes a good story, so it stands to reason that Gooney will get her chance. She tells a series of stories that explain her name, how she came from China on a flying carpet, how she got diamond earrings at the prince’s palace, and why she was late for school (because she was directing a symphony orchestra). And her stories are “absolutely true.” Actually, they are explainable and mesh precisely with the teacher’s lesson, more important, they are a clever device that exemplify the elements of good storytelling and writing and also demonstrate how everyone can turn everyday events into stories. Savvy teachers should take note and add this to their shelf of “how a story is made” titles. Gooney Bird’s stories are printed in larger type than the narrative and the black-and-white drawings add the right touch of sauciness (only the cover is in color). A hybrid of Harriet, Blossom, and Anastasia, irrepressible Gooney Bird is that rare bird in children’s fiction: one that instantly becomes an amusing and popular favorite. (Fiction. 6-9)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002

ISBN: 0-618-23848-4

Page Count: 96

Publisher: Walter Lorraine/Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2002

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
TREE. TABLE. BOOK.
by Lois Lowry

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WINDEBY PUZZLE
by Lois Lowry ; illustrated by Jonathan Stroh

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WILLOUGHBYS RETURN
by Lois Lowry

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RIVER STORY

by Meredith Hooper & illustrated by Bee Willey ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2000

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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)