A straightforward and winsome translation of an award-winning picture book from Spain. Mikie’s mother and father, Mr. and Mrs. Goodparents, are sitting in their Thinking Chair, trying to figure out what to give him. They finally ask him, and Mikie has ideas: he wants it to be big, strong, soft, warm, and to make him fly. For each attribute, Mikie’s parents clutch each other (or hold hands, or even fall over) and think of items to fit the description, counting a bowl of candy and a weightlifter among them. On Mikie’s birthday, the stymied Goodparents give him a great big hug, which is soft, warm, sweet, etc. The characters have the thick outline and geometric shape of woodcuts, and a silvery background that sets off the colors nicely. Each page has Mikie’s description on one page, his parents on the facing page, and their perception of what he wants inside a gatefold page. It’s fun to read and reread, is delightful without being simpering, and will have children guessing to the end. (Picture book. 3-7)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-916291-91-X
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999
Gibberish with meritless pictures. (Picture book. 5-7)
A young girl’s dream takes her on a fantastical adventure.
In what is ostensibly verse, Akley tells of a little girl who has a dream–or perhaps a metaphorical adventure or spiritual awakening–about a gold candlestick. Determined to find the meaning behind it, she embarks on a quest, along the way meeting various preachy animals in different settings. It’s clear that lessons are supposedly being taught, but what exactly that wisdom entails is lost in text that is awkward, lengthy and clichéd. Presented as prose despite the attempted verse, the story fails to generate interest. The accompanying illustrations are unpleasantly colored and amateurish; faces are distorted, and the pictures often deviate from the text. Readers will sense that the girl achieves her quest but will never understand its purpose. Akley claims the story has a basis in the Book of Revelations, but beyond the word “cross” and the possibility of an ever-present shepherd, no actual meaning–religious or secular–is decipherable.
Gibberish with meritless pictures. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: April 13, 2007
ISBN: 978-1-4327-0312-9
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
In The Palm Of Darkness ($21.00; May 1997; 192 pp.; 0-06-018703- 4): A Cuban writers's intensely imaginative portrait of the extremities of Haitian culture rings some fresh changes on the overfamiliar theme of intellectual arrogance humbled by its collision with ``elemental'' peasant wisdom. Montero subtly builds up a revealing contrast between Victor Griggs, a European herpetologist searching for the remaining specimens of an endangered species of amphibian, and his native guide Thierry Adrien's memories of his family's encounter with the island's ubiquitous spirits. This truly original novel is studded with surprises—not least of which is the concept of a species suddenly and entirely disappearing in a milieu where the living and the dead are known to mingle together more or less matter-of-factly. A refreshingly sophisticated treat. (Author tour)
Pub Date: May 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-06-018703-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1997
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