Yolleck’s admiration for a group of early-20th-century artists and friends spurred her to imagine a typical soirée hosted by Gertrude Stein. A prowling black cat purrs to readers, “On any day of the week, if you cross Paris’s Luxembourg Garden going west, you will come to a cobbled street called rue de Fleurus.” Readers are given a glimpse into each guest’s day leading up to the evening’s party. Guillaume Appollinaire crafts a new poem inspired by a street acrobat, Max Jacob works out a poem based on a dream and Pablo Picasso continues with his all-night creation of a painting of two women (“Two Nudes”). Priceman’s sweeping gouache-and-ink paintings brilliantly evoke the atmosphere of a bohemian city and imbue each scene with a sense of magic and movement. The courteous cat’s narration, punctuated with the occasional French phrase, suits the gently surreal mood. But the lengthy story itself, featuring as it does historical characters of whom the audience will know little (thumbnail bios at the beginning will provide some context), seems too ephemeral to make much lasting impression. Undeniably well done, this book will have trouble finding the right readers. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 23, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-375-83756-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Paraclete Press
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2010
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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