Make way for more sled dogs. In the second work this fall to focus on the origins of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race—the first was Blake’s Togo (p. 1216)—the reader learns about the historic 1925 rescue mission by sled-dog teams and their brave owners, bringing antitoxin serum to Nome, Alaska, to fight a diphtheria outbreak. Miller (Are Trees Alive?, p. 419, etc.) does a thorough job of explaining the different dog teams and owners and how many people and dogs played a part in the rescue despite difficult conditions. Van Zyle’s (Gone Again, Ptarmigan, 2001, etc.) polished paintings of sled dogs in action complement the longer story well. The official painter of the Iditarod Race effectively captures the Alaska landscape, especially in sweeping vistas of snow, sky, and northern lights. The back matter includes a list of the “mushers” (dog handlers), further information about the dogs, a summary of the Iditarod Race, and a bibliography. Simple maps on the endpapers show the route of the rescue mission and the position of the route across the state of Alaska. This volume offers a more complete history of the serum race and all the heroic players within a more general context, while the recent Togo focuses on that particular dog and his contribution, providing more emotional engagement but less overall understanding of the event and its modern commemoration in the Iditarod. (Nonfiction. 7-10)
Pub Date: Oct. 31, 2002
ISBN: 0-8027-8811-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 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
McDonald’s irrepressible third-grader (Judy Moody Gets Famous, 2001, etc.) takes a few false steps before hitting full stride. This time, not only has her genius little brother Stink submitted a competing entry in the Crazy Strips Band-Aid design contest, but in the wake of her science teacher’s heads-up about rainforest destruction and endangered animals, she sees every member of her family using rainforest products. It’s all more than enough to put her in a Mood, which gets her in trouble at home for letting Stink’s pet toad, Toady, go free, and at school for surreptitiously collecting all the pencils (made from rainforest cedar) in class. And to top it off, Stink’s Crazy Strips entry wins a prize, while she gets . . . a certificate. Chronicled amusingly in Reynolds’s frequent ink-and-tea drawings, Judy goes from pillar to post—but she justifies the pencil caper convincingly enough to spark a bottle drive that nets her and her classmates not only a hundred seedling trees for Costa Rica, but the coveted school Giraffe Award (given to those who stick their necks out), along with T-shirts and ice cream coupons. Judy’s growing corps of fans will crow “Rare!” right along with her. (Fiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-7636-1446-7
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2002
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