How accurate is the tale? We may never know, but it does make for an enjoyable storytime.
History has never been so fluffy-tailed.
Napoleon, soldier, politician, and emperor, has been a source of admiration and derision for generations. Now he’s also a source of comedy as readers learn about his infamous rabbit hunt. (Shh! Be vewy, vewy quiet; we’re hunting pwimary sources!) The story may be more famous for its internet life than its documented historical accuracy—many of the sources in the bibliography ultimately lead back to Chapter 55 of David G. Chandler’s The Campaigns of Napoleon (1966), in which a paragraph notes the amusing tale of the uncaging of an unknown number of tame rabbits before a hunt and the comical aggression of the animals. Sadly, there is no source cited in the bibliography that confirms accuracy. The book follows the plot as it appears in Chandler, with comical full-page illustrations that will easily be seen from the back of a classroom or storytime audience. Gifted storytellers will make the most of the text, playing up the brief moments of dialogue between characters and the narrator. Backmatter continues the “versus” theme by presenting both some of Napoleon’s accomplishments and some failures. A glossary provides definitions (but not pronunciations). (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.4-by-18.8-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
How accurate is the tale? We may never know, but it does make for an enjoyable storytime. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5253-0202-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses.
An NBA star pays tribute to the influence of his grandfather.
In the same vein as his Long Shot (2009), illustrated by Frank Morrison, this latest from Paul prioritizes values and character: “My granddad Papa Chilly had dreams that came true,” he writes, “so maybe if I listen and watch him, / mine will too.” So it is that the wide-eyed Black child in the simply drawn illustrations rises early to get to the playground hoops before anyone else, watches his elder working hard and respecting others, hears him cheering along with the rest of the family from the stands during games, and recalls in a prose afterword that his grandfather wasn’t one to lecture but taught by example. Paul mentions in both the text and the backmatter that Papa Chilly was the first African American to own a service station in North Carolina (his presumed dream) but not that he was killed in a robbery, which has the effect of keeping the overall tone positive and the instructional content one-dimensional. Figures in the pictures are mostly dark-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-81003-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
A picture book more than worthy of sharing the shelf with Alan Schroeder and Jerry Pinkney’s Minty (1996) and Carole Boston...
A memorable, lyrical reverse-chronological walk through the life of an American icon.
In free verse, Cline-Ransome narrates the life of Harriet Tubman, starting and ending with a train ride Tubman takes as an old woman. “But before wrinkles formed / and her eyes failed,” Tubman could walk tirelessly under a starlit sky. Cline-Ransome then describes the array of roles Tubman played throughout her life, including suffragist, abolitionist, Union spy, and conductor on the Underground Railroad. By framing the story around a literal train ride, the Ransomes juxtapose the privilege of traveling by rail against Harriet’s earlier modes of travel, when she repeatedly ran for her life. Racism still abounds, however, for she rides in a segregated train. While the text introduces readers to the details of Tubman’s life, Ransome’s use of watercolor—such a striking departure from his oil illustrations in many of his other picture books—reveals Tubman’s humanity, determination, drive, and hope. Ransome’s lavishly detailed and expansive double-page spreads situate young readers in each time and place as the text takes them further into the past.
A picture book more than worthy of sharing the shelf with Alan Schroeder and Jerry Pinkney’s Minty (1996) and Carole Boston Weatherford and Kadir Nelson’s Moses (2006). (Picture book/biography. 5-8)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8234-2047-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 6, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
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