This marvelous addition to the series celebrates the highlights of Boston landmarks and art, all with the irrepressible humor of this sister team. Our young adventurer has visited the Metropolitan Museum in New York, and the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. Now, she and her brother are exploring a new museum, just as unwelcome to balloon visitors as the others. Leaving her balloon with her grandmother, the girl and her brother explore the museum’s works with their grandfather, while outside, chaos ensues as the balloon gets loose and floats about the city, passing Boston’s most famous landmarks along the way. Life parallels art through Glasser’s clever drawings. As the children view Rembrandt’s Artist in His Studio, Grandma passes by a painter in the Public Gardens. And Dubuffet’s modernist sculpture L’Enqueteur bears a remarkable resemblance to the baseball catcher at the ballpark. The chase culminates in an uproarious scene at Fenway Park involving the entire cast of characters Grandma has met—and all in the middle of a Red Sox vs. Yankees game, of course. The beauty of this wordless escapade is that the story will be new with each person’s reading. Added to that are wonderful details, like the hidden drawings of 33 famous men and women who played a part in Boston’s history and development. The faithful reproductions found in the text introduce young readers to some of the works of art that can be found at the MFA, while the lively illustrations give an impromptu tour of Boston’s sites. Glasser’s mixture of color, and pen-and-ink drawings make details pop off the pages and the characters come alive. The text includes a list of the reproduced artwork, a map of Boston tracing the journey of the balloon, and brief biographical sketches of the famous people hidden in its pages. Great fun. (Picture book. 5-10)
Pub Date: May 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-8037-2570-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An inspiring story of young boy's compelling desire to read. As a boy of nine, Booker works in a salt mine from the dark of early morning to the gloom of night, hungry for a meal, but even hungrier to learn to read. Readers follow him on his quest in Malden, Virginia, where he finds inspiration in a man ``brown as me'' reading a newspaper on a street corner. An alphabet book helps, but Booker can't make the connection to words. Seeking out ``that brown face of hope'' once again, Booker gains a sense of the sounds represented by letters, and these become his deliverance. Bradby's fine first book is tautly written, with a poetic, spiritual quality in every line. The beautifully executed, luminous illustrations capture the atmosphere of an African-American community post-slavery: the drudgery of days consumed by back- breaking labor, the texture of private lives conducted by lantern- light. There is no other context or historical note about Booker T. Washington's life, leaving readers to piece together his identity. Regardless, this is an immensely satisfying, accomplished work, resonating first with longing and then with joy. (Picture book. 5- 8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-531-09464-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1995
Expressive, handsome, and well-documented.
Robertson, widely known for his work in the legendary group The Band, crafts a legend-based tale about the unification of warring tribes into what would become known as the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy.
As a boy, Robertson, of Mohawk and Cayuga heritage, heard an elder tell this story, which may date from the 14th century. It places Hiawatha, a Mohawk, into fresh cultural context and corrects Longfellow. After his family is killed in a raid by the dreaded Onodaga chief, Tadodaho, Hiawatha retreats in bereft solitude. A man in a glowing white stone canoe approaches. Stuttering softly, he shares his message of peace and reconciliation with Hiawatha, asking him to help carry and amplify this message during visits to warring tribes. The pair travels in succession to the Mohawk, Cayuga, Seneca, Oneida, and Onondaga tribes. With difficulty, they overcome resistance, laying groundwork for what would become, by 1722, the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy. Hiawatha’s first-person narration reveals his own transformation, from grief-stricken vengeance to self-forgiveness, from hatred to joy. Shannon adopts a palette of deep browns, red-golds, and blue-grays, with hints of green. Figures are broad-backed, solemn, and heroically posed. Tadodaho, disfigured by evil, is depicted as a scaly wretch, snakes entwined in his hair. Hiawatha prepares a curative medicine for him; Shannon portrays his recovery and eventual transmogrification as an eagle.
Expressive, handsome, and well-documented. (historical note, acknowledgments, author’s note) (Picture book/folk tale. 5-10)Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4197-1220-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
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