Stanley (Petrosinella, p. 716, etc.) retells the wild adventures of Daniel Hall, seaman from New Bedford, Mass. The year is 1856 and Daniel, at the ripe old age of 14, ships out aboard the whaler Condor. The voyage is scheduled to last three years, but Daniel cuts his journey short when he flees the ship (and the brutal ministrations of the sadistic captain) while on the chilly eastern coast of Siberia. With a little help from the Yakut people, Daniel survives eight months of mean winter, and is ultimately returned to New Bedford on another whaler. In less adept hands, this would have been but another cruel tale, but Stanley's nimble touch keeps melodrama at bay, provides intriguing glimpses into whaling life, and renders lovely, age-worn pastel illustrations that look as though they were lifted from 19th-century cameos. An example of her care is the inset maps that appear on a number of the pages to show Daniel's location at a given time. A book as quick on its feet and as engaging, as real, as its young hero. (Picture book/nonfiction. 6-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-8037-1468-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1995
Sloat collaborates with Huffman, a Yu’pik storyteller, to infuse a traditional “origins” tale with the joy of creating. Hearing the old women of her village grumble that they have only tasteless crowberries for the fall feast’s akutaq—described as “Eskimo ice cream,” though the recipe at the end includes mixing in shredded fish and lard—young Anana carefully fashions three dolls, then sings and dances them to life. Away they bound, to cover the hills with cranberries, blueberries, and salmonberries. Sloat dresses her smiling figures in mixes of furs and brightly patterned garb, and sends them tumbling exuberantly through grassy tundra scenes as wildlife large and small gathers to look on. Despite obtrusively inserted pronunciations for Yu’pik words in the text, young readers will be captivated by the action, and by Anana’s infectious delight. (Picture book/folktale. 6-8)
Pub Date: June 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-88240-575-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2004
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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