In Luján’s free verse poem, a boy on his way to school collides with the sky and breaks it. When he shows broken pieces to his teacher, she flies off into the now-white sky. The schoolchildren paint a new blue sky, finished off by the narrator’s final pieces of the original. The story is quite short, about 16 lines in the original Spanish, but evocative in its surrealistic dream world. Grobler’s illustrations flesh out and expand upon the text, creating both the cityscape through which the boy rides to school and an important character not mentioned in the text, a sort of totem-bird that seems to preside over the fantastic events, distracting the boy into his accident and accompanying the teacher on her flight. His style shares the deliberate naïveté of David Shannon and the retro simplicity of Maira Kalman and many French and Spanish artists. While not essential, this is a vibrantly presented and provocative exploration of the imagination. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-88899-805-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2007
A book that will make young dog-owners smile in recognition and confirm dogless readers' worst suspicions about the mayhem caused by pets, even winsome ones. Sam, who bears passing resemblance to an affable golden retriever, is praised for fetching the family newspaper, and goes on to fetch every other newspaper on the block. In the next story, only the children love Sam's swimming; he is yelled at by lifeguards and fishermen alike when he splashes through every watering hole he can find. Finally, there is woe to the entire family when Sam is bored and lonely for one long night. Boland has an essential message, captured in both both story and illustrations of this Easy-to-Read: Kids and dogs belong together, especially when it's a fun-loving canine like Sam. An appealing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-8037-1530-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996
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
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