Who would believe that Hanukkah, The Feast of Lights, could be celebrated in a remote Yupik Eskimo village? Young Sara Israel is accompanying her father, a traveling doctor, on his rounds when weather conditions prevent them from returning home for Hanukkah. Sara stays with the Eskimo pilot's mother, Sarah, and his daughter, Norma, while her father and the pilot visit the village's clinic. Everything reminds Sara of Hanukkah: The street lights outside recall the Hanukkah lamp, the menorah; the fried bread, assaliaq, that her hostess prepares smells like Hanukkah latkes. Sara entertains grandmother and granddaughter by relating the story of Hanukkah, and though it must be translated into Yupik by Norma, the meaning of the holiday is made clear. Suddenly the old woman produces a stone oil lamp that had burned not olive oil, but seal oil. With this lamp Sara is able to chant the traditional blessing over the candles. With patience and imagination, young Sara is able to convey the importance of this holiday to her Yupik friends, overcoming language and cultural barriers. The magnificent blue-and-purple watercolors do not let us forget that we are in a frozen and isolated land, but newcomer Conway's story will warm the hearts of all her readers. (Fiction/Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-929371-79-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kar-Ben
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1994
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The seemingly ageless Seeger brings back his renowned giant for another go in a tuneful tale that, like the art, is a bit sketchy, but chockful of worthy messages. Faced with yearly floods and droughts since they’ve cut down all their trees, the townsfolk decide to build a dam—but the project is stymied by a boulder that is too huge to move. Call on Abiyoyo, suggests the granddaughter of the man with the magic wand, then just “Zoop Zoop” him away again. But the rock that Abiyoyo obligingly flings aside smashes the wand. How to avoid Abiyoyo’s destruction now? Sing the monster to sleep, then make it a peaceful, tree-planting member of the community, of course. Seeger sums it up in a postscript: “every community must learn to manage its giants.” Hays, who illustrated the original (1986), creates colorful, if unfinished-looking, scenes featuring a notably multicultural human cast and a towering Cubist fantasy of a giant. The song, based on a Xhosa lullaby, still has that hard-to-resist sing-along potential, and the themes of waging peace, collective action, and the benefits of sound ecological practices are presented in ways that children will both appreciate and enjoy. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83271-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
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