Sticking closely to historical records and current scholarship, Pringle follows up Dog of Discovery: A Newfoundland’s Adventures with Lewis and Clark (2002) with this handsome tribute to Clark’s near-lifelong companion and slave. Carefully noting where details are scant or absent, he traces York’s early years, significant role in the expedition that is “still considered the greatest in United States history,” and later unhappy experiences. Nearly always easily identifiable as the tallest figure in sight, York can be followed from childhood to maturity in the grand watercolor illustrations as he grows up with Clark, takes an active role in providing food for the expedition and coping with emergencies, clowns with laughing Arikara children and strikes a final heroic pose at the end. Rich in eye-opening observations—Pringle notes, for instance, that when the expedition took a vote, both York and Sacagawea participated—this study joins Rhoda Blumberg’s York’s Adventures with Lewis and Clark (2004) atop the teetering stack of Lewis and Clark titles. (Picture book/nonfiction. 8-11)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2006
ISBN: 1-59078-282-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Calkins Creek/Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The author of Cod’s Tale (2001) again demonstrates a dab hand at recasting his adult work for a younger audience. Here the topic is salt, “the only rock eaten by human beings,” and, as he engrossingly demonstrates, “the object of wars and revolutions” throughout recorded history and before. Between his opening disquisition on its chemical composition and a closing timeline, he explores salt’s sources and methods of extraction, its worldwide economic influences from prehistoric domestication of animals to Gandhi’s Salt March, its many uses as a preservative and industrial product, its culinary and even, as the source for words like “salary” and “salad,” its linguistic history. Along with lucid maps and diagrams, Schindler supplies detailed, sometimes fanciful scenes to go along, finishing with a view of young folk chowing down on orders of French fries as ghostly figures from history look on. Some of Kurlansky’s claims are exaggerated (the Erie and other canals were built to transport more than just salt, for instance), and there are no leads to further resources, but this salutary (in more ways than one) micro-history will have young readers lifting their shakers in tribute. (Picture book/nonfiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-399-23998-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2006
paper 1-57505-370-5 In this valuable addition to the On My Own Biography series of easy readers, Lowery (Georgia O’Keeffe, 1996, etc.) renders an intriguing and lucid portrait of the man often referred to as the most celebrated artist of the 20th century. The book begins with young Picasso puzzling over math equations. Finding math difficult, he came up with an inventive alternative, swirling and bending numbers on the page until they became fanciful creations. As a boy, Picasso was often sent to a “cell” as punishment for his lack of academic focus, but there he found the long hours nothing but pleasant, doing just what he loved best, “drawing, drawing, drawing.” This book takes readers on a journey through the highlights of Picasso’s life, visiting his Blue Period, his Rose Period and lingering over cubism. Lowery also makes clear Picasso’s mercurial and tempestuous nature, describing his swings from flamboyant rage to ecstatic joy. She aptly demonstrates how Picasso’s art became an expression of his character and his character an extension of his art. In pleasing textures of oil on canvas and warm hues, Porter’s accompanying illustrations quite nicely echo the art of its subject. (photos, chronology) (Biography. 8-11)
Pub Date: Nov. 30, 1999
ISBN: 1-57505-331-4
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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