In this superficial review of our country’s history, Uncle Sam is cast as a Paul Bunyan–like figure who answered the British invasion of 1812 by calling on Andy Jackson to “beat the Red Coats in New Orleans” (never mind that the war was actually over before that battle was fought) and accompanied the trans-Mississippi settlers across an evidently uninhabited land. Later, readers see, he joined Lady Liberty in welcoming “all” of Europe’s immigrants (no mention of quotas, or of Asia for that matter) and so on through two World Wars and a Moon landing. Uncle Sam in 19th-century dress appears throughout, doffing his hat to the Statue of Liberty, standing with hands on the shoulders of Lyndon Johnson and Martin Luther King and, finally, marching with a crowd “boldly and courageously forward” to carry “a message of kindness and hope for the future.” With rhetoric (and a sensibility) that harks back to Robert Lawson’s equally problematic They Were Strong and Good (1940), this panorama will leave children pumped up but significantly underinformed. (Informational picture book. 8-10)
Pub Date: June 3, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-4169-4075-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2008
Miranda’s book counts the monsters gathering at a birthday party, while a simple rhyming text keeps the tally and surveys the action: “Seven starved monsters are licking the dishes./Eight blow out candles and make birthday wishes.” The counting proceeds to ten, then by tens to fifty, then gradually returns to one, which makes the monster’s mother, a purple pin-headed octopus, very happy. The book is surprisingly effective due to Powell’s artwork; the color has texture and density, as if it were poured onto the page, but the real attention-getter is the singularity of every monster attendee. They are highly individual and, therefore, eminently countable. As the numbers start crawling upward, it is both fun and a challenge to try to recognize monsters who have appeared in previous pages, or to attempt to stay focused when counting the swirling or bunched creatures. The story has glints of humor, and in combination with the illustrations is a grand addition to the counting shelf. (Picture book. 3-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-201835-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
In a snowbound Swiss village, Matti figures it’s a good day to make a gingerbread man. He and his mother mix a batch of gingerbread and tuck it in the oven, but Matti is too impatient to wait ten minutes without peeking. When he opens the door, out pops a gingerbread baby, taunting the familiar refrain, “Catch me if you can.” The brash imp races all over the village, teasing animals and tweaking the noses of the citizenry, until there is a fair crowd on his heels intent on giving him a drubbing. Always he remains just out of reach as he races over the winterscape, beautifully rendered with elegant countryside and architectural details by Brett. All the while, Matti is busy back home, building a gingerbread house to entice the nervy cookie to safe harbor. It works, too, and Matti is able to spirit the gingerbread baby away from the mob. The mischief-maker may be a brat, but the gingerbread cookie is also the agent of good cheer, and Brett allows that spirit to run free on these pages. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-399-23444-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999
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