The zeal to extend interest in the “Greatest Generation” to young children brings the 34th US president to picture book readers. Adler’s (Young Cam Jansen and the Double Beach Mystery, p. 560, etc.) straightforward, though largely undistinguished, text opens with Eisenhower’s triumphal 1945 return from Europe, then backtracks to fill in the details of the general’s life from his birth in Denison, Texas, and youth in Abilene, Kansas, to his education at West Point and his early military career. The second world war gets six pages, Eisenhower’s presidency, three. Handsome archival photographs provide the illustrations, and indeed constitute the high point. Quotations from primary source materials appear throughout, giving young readers a direct glimpse into history, but are regrettably unsourced both within the text and in the back matter (which includes a timeline and author’s notes). This offering’s greatest weakness, however, lies in the necessary brevity of coverage of a time and events that may not be familiar to primary grade readers. Terms such as the Allied forces and segregation are introduced without explanation, and the celebratory “Taxes went down and incomes went up” will likely mean little to the designated audience. Still, as an accompaniment to an introduction to the events of WWII and the 1950s, it will be useful. (Picture book/biography. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2002
ISBN: 0-8234-1702-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2002
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
Every year since kindergarten, Harry’s Halloween costume has gotten scarier and scarier. What’s it going to be this year? He’s not telling. His classmates are all stunned when he shows up, not as some monster or a weird alien (well, not really)—but as neatly dressed Sgt. Joe Friday of Dragnet fame, wielding a notebook and out to get “just the facts, ma’am.” As she has in Harry’s 11 previous appearances (15, counting the ones his classmate Song Lee headlines), Kline (Marvin and the Mean Words, 1997, etc.) captures grammar-school atmosphere, personalities, and incidents perfectly, from snits to science projects gone hilariously wrong. She even hands Harry/Friday a chance to exercise his sleuthing abilities, with a supply of baby powder “fairy dust” gone mysteriously missing. As legions of fans have learned to expect, Harry comes through with flying colors, pinning down the remorseful culprit in 11 minutes flat. No surprises here, just reliable, child-friendly, middle-grade fare. Illustrations not seen. (Fiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-670-88864-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2000
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