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KAMISHIBAI MAN

Name: KAMISHIBAI MAN
Author: Allen Say
ISBN: 0-618-47954-6

by Allen Say & illustrated by Allen Say ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 24, 2005

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Kamishibai means “paper theater” in Japanese, and when Caldecott artist Say was a boy in Japan in the 1940s, a “kamishibai man” on a bicycle used to sell sweets and tell serial tales of heroes and heroines, using picture cards and a wooden stage. This nostalgic story begins when Grandpa, once a kamishibai man, gets a hankering to resurrect his show. Unfortunately, it’s been so long he finds himself in an unrecognizable city with tall buildings and rude drivers. Dismayed, he parks his bike in a vacant lot and begins to recount not the beloved “Peach Boy,” but his own story of how his show was eventually replaced by television (initially referred to as denki, or electric kamishibai!). Soon enough, Grandpa’s surrounded by a crowd of adults who remember him from their childhood, and, ironically, he ends up on the evening news. Say effectively incorporates two illustration styles here—lovely soft watercolors and a more cartoonish style for flashbacks to the heyday of kamishibai. A fascinating window on a bygone art form. (Picture book. 6-10)

Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2005

ISBN: 0-618-47954-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Walter Lorraine/Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2005

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
KOZO THE SPARROW
by Allen Say ; illustrated by Allen Say

- BOOK REVIEW
MISS IRWIN
by Allen Say ; illustrated by Allen Say

- BOOK REVIEW
ALMOND
by Allen Say ; illustrated by Allen Say

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WILD, WILD WOLVES

by Joyce Milton & illustrated by Larry Schwinger ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1992

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At ``Step 2'' in the useful ``Step into Reading'' series: an admirably clear, well-balanced presentation that centers on wolves' habits and pack structure. Milton also addresses their endangered status, as well as their place in fantasy, folklore, and the popular imagination. Attractive realistic watercolors on almost every page. Top-notch: concise, but remarkably extensive in its coverage. A real bargain. (Nonfiction/Easy reader. 6-10)

Pub Date: April 1, 1992

ISBN: 0-679-91052-2

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1992

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
DINOSAUR DAYS
by Joyce Milton ; illustrated by Franco Tempesta

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RIVER STORY

by Meredith Hooper & illustrated by Bee Willey ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2000

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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)