The illustrator of Karen Hesse’s Come On, Rain! (1999) places Charlip’s (Peanut Butter Party, not reviewed, etc.) rushed young narrator amidst an extended, multicultural family and gives her a book that is recognizably this one, sometimes even open to the same spread. As a clock ticks away in the background, she details her morning routine from first big stretch to schoolward rush, then reels off afternoon and evening tasks that somehow manage to fill every moment until bedtime. (There’s a clock to watch on every page, and multiple clocks on those with many panels.) Often, she’s got the book with her; as often, she leaves it behind. Somehow, she never gets to read it, even though it’s open wide and she’s not even going to an after-school activity. Figures are posed with casual, natural-looking grace; the legibly hand-lettered text alternates between the narrator’s breathless chatter and family members’ antiphonal comments (“WHO LEFT THIS BOOK IN THE FRIDGE?”) slanting across opposite pages. Children might want to share this veteran writer’s oblique, whimsical reminder to slow down and smell the printer’s ink with their overscheduled parents. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 1-58246-018-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Tricycle
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2000
Trickling, bubbling, swirling, rushing, a river flows down from its mountain beginnings, past peaceful country and bustling city on its way to the sea. Hooper (The Drop in My Drink, 1998, etc.) artfully evokes the water’s changing character as it transforms from “milky-cold / rattling-bold” to a wide, slow “sliding past mudflats / looping through marshes” to the end of its journey. Willey, best known for illustrating Geraldine McCaughrean’s spectacular folk-tale collections, contributes finely detailed scenes crafted in shimmering, intricate blues and greens, capturing mountain’s chill, the bucolic serenity of passing pastures, and a sense of mystery in the water’s shadowy depths. Though Hooper refers to “the cans and cartons / and bits of old wood” being swept along, there’s no direct conservation agenda here (for that, see Debby Atwell’s River, 1999), just appreciation for the river’s beauty and being. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: June 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0792-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000
Every year since kindergarten, Harry’s Halloween costume has gotten scarier and scarier. What’s it going to be this year? He’s not telling. His classmates are all stunned when he shows up, not as some monster or a weird alien (well, not really)—but as neatly dressed Sgt. Joe Friday of Dragnet fame, wielding a notebook and out to get “just the facts, ma’am.” As she has in Harry’s 11 previous appearances (15, counting the ones his classmate Song Lee headlines), Kline (Marvin and the Mean Words, 1997, etc.) captures grammar-school atmosphere, personalities, and incidents perfectly, from snits to science projects gone hilariously wrong. She even hands Harry/Friday a chance to exercise his sleuthing abilities, with a supply of baby powder “fairy dust” gone mysteriously missing. As legions of fans have learned to expect, Harry comes through with flying colors, pinning down the remorseful culprit in 11 minutes flat. No surprises here, just reliable, child-friendly, middle-grade fare. Illustrations not seen. (Fiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-670-88864-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2000
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