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SQUANTO’S JOURNEY

Name: SQUANTO’S JOURNEY
Author: Joseph Bruchac
ISBN: 0-15-201817-4

THE STORY OF THE FIRST THANKSGIVING

by Joseph Bruchac & illustrated by Greg Shed ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2000

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Does every child need a book on every subject in which the facts are set within a fictional frame? Young children and unwary adults, too, may be confused by what is fiction and what is fact, despite Bruchac’s excellent historical note (which is well beyond the textual level of the main story). The note is meant for the adult, but the attractive book will catch the young reader with its generous, full, facing-page gouaches, albeit somewhat static in its autumnal colors. The paintings depict the characters portrayed in a text that sketches the life of Squanto (“Tisquantum” before his capture from the Virginia region and his kidnap to Europe). Upon his return to the New World, he landed in a new colony that was to become New England. Bruchac lets Squanto tell his story and the story of the first Thanksgiving in the New World as well as his interactions with the Pilgrims. Important details about what people wore (and didn’t wear) and what was eaten (and what wasn’t) abound. The story is eminently readable, thanks to a clear, widely leaded typeface, but if the notes and glossary are not consulted, confusion about names, tribes, and geography will remain. A map of Squanto’s travels and the homelands of the native groups would be of enormous assistance, as would a pronouncing glossary since some of the terms may be difficult for young—and older—readers. Nonetheless, every teacher and librarian who works with school-age children will want to purchase this less-than-perfect book because it offers two important topics—Native Americans and the first Thanksgiving in the New World—from a noteworthy storyteller. (Fiction. 6-9)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2000

ISBN: 0-15-201817-4

Page Count: 32

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2000

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

- BOOK REVIEW
OF ALL TRIBES
by Joseph Bruchac

- BOOK REVIEW
VOICES OF THE PEOPLE
by Joseph Bruchac

- BOOK REVIEW
REZ DOGS
by Joseph Bruchac

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THE ADVENTURES OF HENRY WHISKERS

From the Adventures of Henry Whiskers series , Vol. 1

by Gigi Priebe ; illustrated by Daniel Duncan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 3, 2017

Innocuous adventuring on the smallest of scales.

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The Mouse and the Motorcycle (1965) upgrades to The Mice and the Rolls-Royce.

In Windsor Castle there sits a “dollhouse like no other,” replete with working plumbing, electricity, and even a full library of real, tiny books. Called Queen Mary’s Dollhouse, it also plays host to the Whiskers family, a clan of mice that has maintained the house for generations. Henry Whiskers and his cousin Jeremy get up to the usual high jinks young mice get up to, but when Henry’s little sister Isabel goes missing at the same time that the humans decide to clean the house up, the usually bookish big brother goes on the adventure of his life. Now Henry is driving cars, avoiding cats, escaping rats, and all before the upcoming mouse Masquerade. Like an extended version of Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Two Bad Mice (1904), Priebe keeps this short chapter book constantly moving, with Duncan’s peppy art a cute capper. Oddly, the dollhouse itself plays only the smallest of roles in this story, and no factual information on the real Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House is included at the tale’s end (an opportunity lost).

Innocuous adventuring on the smallest of scales. (Fantasy. 6-8)

Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-4814-6575-5

Page Count: 144

Publisher: Aladdin

Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

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THE UGLY PUMPKIN

by Dave Horowitz & illustrated by Dave Horowitz ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2005

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A club-shaped pumpkin gets dissed by a customer, all the other pumpkins, even twisted apple trees, before the sight of a motley crop of hubbards, acorns and banana squash brings on a personal epiphany: “O my gosh / I’m a squash.” Endowed with a face and stick limbs, the gnarled narrator sits down at a Thanksgiving table with its new soulmates, then is last seen strolling down the lane hand in hand with a lumpy new friend. Written in doggerel—“A skeleton came for pumpkins / one bright and crispy day. / I asked if I could get a ride . . . / He laughed and said: No Way”—and illustrated in brightly colored paint-and-paper collage, this weak riff on the “Ugly Duckling” may not earn high marks for botanical accuracy (all pumpkins are squash), but it does feature plenty of visual flash. (Picture book. 6-8)