Imaginatively conveys the drudgery—if not the sheer terror—of war to a young audience.
This is the remarkable true story of an ordinary goat who became the beloved mascot of the Fifth Canadian Battalion during World War I.
In Messier’s dryly humorous tale, Billy adapts well to army life, traveling with the soldiers on training exercises, boarding the troop ship to England with them, and being smuggled onboard the ship to France in an empty orange box. He never complains about the squalid conditions of life in the trenches (he is depicted bleating at a rat) and provides important moral support to frightened or tired soldiers, who mention him affectionately in their letters home. He even saves lives, butting three soldiers into a trench before a shell explodes. Billy becomes such a great protector and defender of his regiment that he is promoted to sergeant and eventually becomes a decorated war hero, surviving the war and ultimately returning to his original owner, depicted as a little girl on a farm in Saskatchewan. Messier’s smooth, well-paced text and Reich’s muted gouache illustrations in warlike tones of olive and brown well convey the poignancy and humor of the story. Such afflictions as trench foot and shell shock are conveyed though not explored in depth, and no characters die. All human characters appear to be white.
Imaginatively conveys the drudgery—if not the sheer terror—of war to a young audience. (author’s note, photographs) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-7352-6442-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute.
Readers bid farewell to a beloved canine character.
Momo is—or was—an adorable and very photogenic border collie owned by author Knapp. The many readers who loved him in the previous half-dozen books are in for a shock with this one. “Momo had died” is the stark reality—and there are no photographs of him here. Instead, Momo has been replaced by a flat cartoonish pastiche with strange, staring round white eyes, inserted into some of Knapp’s photography (which remains appealing, insofar as it can be discerned under the mixed media). Previous books contained few or no words. Unfortunately, virtuosity behind a lens does not guarantee mastery of verse. The art here is accompanied by words that sometimes rhyme but never find a workable or predictable rhythm (“We’d fetch and we’d catch, / we’d run and we’d jump. Every day we found new / games to play”). It’s a pity, because the subject—a pet’s death—is an important one to address with children. Of course, Momo isn’t gone; he can still be found “everywhere” in memories. But alas, he can be found here only in the crude depictions of the darling dog so well known from the earlier books.
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781683693864
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
Another playful imagination-stretcher.
Markle invites children to picture themselves living in the homes of 11 wild animals.
As in previous entries in the series, McWilliam’s illustrations of a diverse cast of young people fancifully imitating wild creatures are paired with close-up photos of each animal in a like natural setting. The left side of one spread includes a photo of a black bear nestling in a cozy winter den, while the right side features an image of a human one cuddled up with a bear. On another spread, opposite a photo of honeybees tending to newly hatched offspring, a human “larva” lounges at ease in a honeycomb cell, game controller in hand, as insect attendants dish up goodies. A child with an eye patch reclines on an orb weaver spider’s web, while another wearing a head scarf constructs a castle in a subterranean chamber with help from mound-building termites. Markle adds simple remarks about each type of den, nest, or burrow and basic facts about its typical residents, then closes with a reassuring reminder to readers that they don’t have to live as animals do, because they will “always live where people live.” A select gallery of traditional homes, from igloo and yurt to mudhif, follows a final view of the young cast waving from a variety of differently styled windows.
Another playful imagination-stretcher. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781339049052
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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