An African-American boy’s success is demonstrated in this brief narrative that credits the supportive mentoring he received from a strong and disciplined educator. The young boy first meets Miss Josie when his father brings him to her home for an overnight stay. Her tall, imposing appearance is intimidating and makes the boy feel unsure of the purpose of his visit even as she introduces him to her capital city’s famous monuments and symbols and encourages his interest in art by allowing him to draw while in her home. Several years later, when he’s traveling to a summer camp and needs to change trains in Washington D.C., his father arranges a meeting with her in the station, but the boy’s continued uneasiness prevails and he carefully avoids her before boarding the next train. College brings the now him to Washington once more. He agrees to one Sunday visit with Miss Josie, as he realizes her towering presence is no longer scary, but protective and inspiring, and a new learning relationship and lasting friendship develop. The years pass, bringing graduation, marriage, and a son. Miss Josie, while physically older and increasingly slower and deafer, maintains a strong influence in the new father’s life and the cycle continues when he introduces his own boy to the woman who urged him to follow his artistic dream. Belton bases this gracious, gentle-hearted story on a real person. Andrews employs an elongated style in full-color collage and oil paints that highlights Miss Josie’s statuesque and eloquent figure against a bright and vibrant background. A fine tribute. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-688-17480-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2003
Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25248-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009
SEEN & HEARD
Will and his little brother Steve face third grade and kindergarten in this over-the-top chapter book in the venerable Step-Into-Reading series for new readers. Will knows that going to the same school as his brother is going to be a challenge, but he does not know how much of a challenge it will be. From the moment Will has to hold Steve’s hand and take him to kindergarten, everything that can go wrong does. Whether Steve is slamming all the lockers, making faces through the third-grade window or starting a food fight in the cafeteria, he’s embarrassing his older brother. Expressive and stylized color illustrations add to the exaggerated plot lines. A comfortable, predictable ending on the bench outside of the principal’s office will make new readers everywhere smile with recognition. No one will mistake this for a lesson book about back to school, but new readers will find many reasons to laugh out loud with Will and Steve. (Fiction. 6-9)
Pub Date: July 10, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-375-83904-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2007
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