Having made it her mission to impart life information to middle-graders, Cameron brings Julian’s friend Gloria (Gloria’s Way, 2000) to the forefront once again for a series of edifying encounters. After the woman in line behind her in the store, who turns out to be former astronaut Dr. Grace Street, fills her head with starry visions and lectures her on negative thinking, Gloria heads to fourth grade. There bully—er, Billy Watkins gets her in trouble, and her burned-out teacher, Priscilla “Dragon of Doom” Yardley, decides that she’s a liar for claiming to have met an astronaut. Ultimately, Gloria gets to see Dr. Street visit the class, to deliver another inspirational lecture, and to set Mrs. Yardley straight, then screws up her courage to climb Old Rocket, the biggest pine tree in the park, to reflect on big things, little things, and mastering fear. Toft’s penciled portraits capture Gloria’s pigtailed likability nicely; Cameron’s crisply direct advice, all of which is right on, ranges from practical items like never looking directly at the sun, to profound character-building insights—and the learning goes on in an author’s note citing Internet resources about space exploration. “Live and Learn” is the unstated theme, and by the end, readers will have a sense of what makes even Mrs. Yardley and Billy tick. (Fiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 21, 2002
ISBN: 0-374-32675-4
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2002
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
Nolen and Nelson offer a smaller, but no less gifted counterpart to Big Jabe (2000) in this new tall tale. Shortly after being born one stormy night, Rose thanks her parents, picks a name, and gathers lightning into a ball—all of which is only a harbinger of feats to come. Decked out in full cowboy gear and oozing self-confidence from every pore, Rose cuts a diminutive, but heroic figure in Nelson’s big, broad Western scenes. Though she carries a twisted iron rod as dark as her skin and ropes clouds with fencing wire, Rose overcomes her greatest challenge—a pair of rampaging twisters—not with strength, but with a lullaby her parents sang. After turning tornadoes into much-needed rain clouds, Rose rides away, “that mighty, mighty song pressing on the bull’s-eye that was set at the center of her heart.” Throughout, she shows a reflective bent that gives her more dimension than most tall-tale heroes: a doff of the Stetson to her and her creators. (author’s note) (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-15-216472-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Silver Whistle/Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2003
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