A moving collage of poems and illustrations recreates the daily life of a girl growing up in Jamaica, introducing friends and relatives in her life, and reflecting her observations. Readers will sense the narrator's exhilaration at splashing in the ``water crystals'' that spray out of Aunt Sue's hose, and will join in her adventures with her best friend, Connie. Sad moments come, too; when Connie dies, readers feel the loss acutely. Gems of human kindness shine particularly bright amidst the ever-present poverty of the island: Aunt Mae shares breadfruit with Grandma when food is scarce, and Uncle Viv can't stop giving away plums to hungry street children. Although a vendor of spicy patties appears to be selling doughnuts and cupcakes, the black-and-white scratchboard illustrations capture Jamaica through the textures of palm leaves, breadfruit, bird feathers, and the wrinkled skin of the elderly. Readers will learn more about Jamaica from these sensitive poems than many visitors to the island ever do. (Poetry. 7-10)
Pub Date: March 1, 1998
ISBN: 1-56397-539-4
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Wordsong/Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
With an eye toward easy memorization, Katz gathers over 50 short poems from the likes of Emily Dickinson, Valerie Worth, Jack Prelutsky, and Lewis Carroll, to such anonymous gems as “The Burp”—“Pardon me for being rude. / It was not me, it was my food. / It got so lonely down below, / it just popped up to say hello.” Katz includes five of her own verses, and promotes an evident newcomer, Emily George, with four entries. Hafner surrounds every selection with fine-lined cartoons, mostly of animals and children engaged in play, reading, or other familiar activities. Amid the ranks of similar collections, this shiny-faced newcomer may not stand out—but neither will it drift to the bottom of the class. (Picture book/poetry. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-525-47172-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2004
A dozen familiar dinosaurs introduce themselves in verse in this uninspired, if colorful, new animal gallery from the authors of Commotion in the Ocean (2000). Smiling, usually toothily, and sporting an array of diamonds, lightning bolts, spikes and tiger stripes, the garishly colored dinosaurs make an eye-catching show, but their comments seldom measure up to their appearance: “I’m a swimming reptile, / I dive down in the sea. / And when I spot a yummy squid, / I eat it up with glee!” (“Ichthyosaurus”) Next to the likes of Kevin Crotty’s Dinosongs (2000), illustrated by Kurt Vargo, or Jack Prelutsky’s classic Tyrannosaurus Was A Beast (1988), illustrated by Arnold Lobel, there’s not much here to roar about. (Picture book/poetry. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 2005
ISBN: 1-58925-044-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2005
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