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BOTTLE HOUSES

THE CREATIVE WORLD OF GRANDMA PRISBREY

California folk-, visionary-, outsider-, or just plain artist Tressa Prisbrey left behind a “village” of houses, walls, monuments, and pavements constructed from thousands of bottles and other castoffs. Here, she and her work get appreciative profiles from Paschkis, who portrays a spry elder in casual clothes and quirky bonnets surrounded by glorious, color-coordinated displays that glow like geometric ranks of gems, and Slaymaker’s plain spoken insights: “But Grandma Prisbrey wasn’t a regular sort of person who did things in a regular sort of way.” Capped by Grandma’s own cogent observation that her drawing skills might not be worth a hoot, but “there are different kinds of art,” and closing with a spread of color photos and further information about her Bottle Village, this joins the likes of Patricia Zelver’s Wonderful Towers of Watts (1994) and Jan Greenberg’s and Sandra Jordan’s Action Jackson (2002) in exploring some of the distinctively individual ways the urge to create has expressed itself. (Picture book/biography. 7-10)

Pub Date: April 1, 2004

ISBN: 0-8050-7131-8

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2004

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GEORGE CRUM AND THE SARATOGA CHIP

Spinning lively invented details around skimpy historical records, Taylor profiles the 19th-century chef credited with inventing the potato chip. Crum, thought to be of mixed Native-American and African-American ancestry, was a lover of the outdoors, who turned cooking skills learned from a French hunter into a kitchen job at an upscale resort in New York state. As the story goes, he fried up the first batch of chips in a fit of pique after a diner complained that his French fries were cut too thickly. Morrison’s schoolroom, kitchen and restaurant scenes seem a little more integrated than would have been likely in the 1850s, but his sinuous figures slide through them with exaggerated elegance, adding a theatrical energy as delicious as the snack food they celebrate. The author leaves Crum presiding over a restaurant (also integrated) of his own, closes with a note separating fact from fiction and also lists her sources. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)

Pub Date: April 1, 2006

ISBN: 1-58430-255-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Lee & Low Books

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006

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A JOURNEY TOWARD HOPE

An emotional entry point to a larger, necessary discussion on this complex and difficult subject.

The paths of four migrant children from different Central American countries cross as they enter Mexico, and together they continue their journey to the United States.

Though their reasons for undertaking the perilous journey are different, their hopes are not: They all hope for asylum in the U.S. Ten-year-old Alessandra, from Guatemala, hopes to reunite with her mother, who left four years ago. Thirteen-year-old Laura and her 7-year-old brother, Nando, from El Salvador, are going to live with relatives in the U.S. And 14-year-old Rodrigo, from Honduras, will try to join his parents in Nebraska rather than join a local gang. Along the way they encounter danger, hunger, kindness from strangers, and, most importantly, the strength of friendship with one another. Through the four children, the book provides but the barest glimpse into the reasons, hopes, and dreams of the thousands of unaccompanied minors that arrive at the U.S.–Mexico border every year. Artist Guevara has added Central American folk art–influenced details to her illustrations, giving depth to the artwork. These embellishments appear as line drawings superimposed on the watercolor scenes. The backmatter explains the reasons for the book, helping to place it within the larger context of ongoing projects at Baylor University related to the migration crisis in Central America.

An emotional entry point to a larger, necessary discussion on this complex and difficult subject. (Picture book. 7-10)

Pub Date: July 7, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-64442-008-9

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Six Foot Press

Review Posted Online: June 2, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2020

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