Down Girl and Sit are best friends. They are also dogs, dogs who enjoy the finer things of canine life, including chasing squirrels, bothering their masters and eating crumbs. The charming first-canine point of view really works here—partly because Nolan keeps her dog’s voice steady and humorous, and partly because she really seems to think like a dog. The first of the four linked stories involves a drive to the beach and an exciting episode where the car’s brake fails and the two dogs “drive” down the beach. Because Down Girl sees the world through canine glasses, the reader is treated to some amusing takes on dog behavior. For instance, when Down Girl and Sit find a bag of two doughnuts, they have to decide who gets them. “Hmm. There were two dogs, two masters, and two doughnuts. That sounded about right. Thank goodness dogs don’t know math. That makes all our decisions easy. We ate the doughnuts.” Kids will want to curl up with their best friend and laugh at the adventures of Down Girl and Sit. (Fiction. 6-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-7614-5234-6
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2005
Sloat collaborates with Huffman, a Yu’pik storyteller, to infuse a traditional “origins” tale with the joy of creating. Hearing the old women of her village grumble that they have only tasteless crowberries for the fall feast’s akutaq—described as “Eskimo ice cream,” though the recipe at the end includes mixing in shredded fish and lard—young Anana carefully fashions three dolls, then sings and dances them to life. Away they bound, to cover the hills with cranberries, blueberries, and salmonberries. Sloat dresses her smiling figures in mixes of furs and brightly patterned garb, and sends them tumbling exuberantly through grassy tundra scenes as wildlife large and small gathers to look on. Despite obtrusively inserted pronunciations for Yu’pik words in the text, young readers will be captivated by the action, and by Anana’s infectious delight. (Picture book/folktale. 6-8)
Pub Date: June 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-88240-575-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2004
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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