Not so much a history of food as history with food—a way of adding a bit of spice to general studies of the past.
A tempting tasting platter of foods and eating customs in diverse times and places.
As there are no actual menus and but one informal recipe, these introductions to 16 historical figures (10 of whom are white Europeans or Americans) are more quick snacks than sustained repasts for dedicated foodies. Still, they do convey a sense of where select foods originated and how they traveled—around the world and also beyond. Speaking for themselves, Cleopatra and Sacagawea, Moctezuma, Hokusai, Martin Luther King Jr., Babe Ruth, Neil Armstrong, and the rest summarize their general accomplishments alongside parallel but somewhat more food-oriented third-person commentary and a colorful caricature of the subject usually, but not invariably, at table. Along with observations that Cleopatra would have been served stork, that Napoleon was a messy eater, and like tidbits, readers will come away with some significant morsels of history, such as the role Columbus played in introducing avocados, corn, and beans to Europe and oranges, coffee, and sugar cane to North and South America. Along with a generous dollop of further reading (for adults), the final section dishes up more detail about each of the distinguished diners plus a timeline strewn with factual croutons, from the publication of the first printed cookbook (1465) to the introduction of Lunchables.
Not so much a history of food as history with food—a way of adding a bit of spice to general studies of the past. (Nonfiction. 9-11)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-88448-468-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Tilbury House
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
An insightful glimpse into a key period in Alcott’s life and women in nursing.
During the Civil War, Louisa May Alcott served as a volunteer nurse, caring for Union soldiers in Washington, D.C., between December 12, 1862, and January 21, 1863. This well-researched biographical vignette explores the brief but pivotal episode in Alcott’s life.
An abolitionist, Alcott longed to fight in the Union Army, but she did her part by serving as a nurse. Alcott met the female nursing requirements: She was 30, plain, strong and unmarried. Krull describes her challenging solo journey from Massachusetts by train and ship and her lonely arrival in Washington at the “overcrowded, damp, dark, airless” hospital. For three weeks she nursed and provided “motherly” support for her “boys” before succumbing to typhoid fever, forcing her to return to Massachusetts. Krull shows how Alcott’s short tenure as a nurse affected her life, inspiring her to publish letters she sent home as Hospital Sketches. This honest account of the war earned rave reviews and taught Alcott to use her own experiences in her writing, leading to Little Women. Peppered with Alcott’s own words, the straightforward text is enhanced by bold, realistic illustrations rendered in digital oils on gessoed canvas. A somber palette reinforces the grim wartime atmosphere, dramatically highlighting Alcott in her red cape and white nurse’s apron.
An insightful glimpse into a key period in Alcott’s life and women in nursing. (notes on women in medicine and the Battle of Fredericksburg, sources, map) (Picture book/biography. 9-11)Pub Date: March 5, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-8027-9668-4
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: Oct. 23, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2012
Sentimental of plotline but informative and breathlessly paced.
The seventh (chronologically earliest) entry in the series pitches a young former slave into the middle of the Civil War’s pivotal battle.
Having saved a Union soldier named Henry Green by hurling a live skunk at his Confederate captors, young Thomas finds himself and his little sister Birdie adopted by Green’s unit. Three weeks, an ambush and a quick march later, Thomas unexpectedly finds himself in the thick of the fighting—possibly on Missionary Ridge itself, though the author doesn’t provide a specific location. Rather than go into details of the battle, Tarshis offers broad overviews of slavery and the war’s course (adding more about the latter in an afterword that includes the text of the Gettysburg Address). She folds these into quick pictures of military camp life and the violence-laced fog of war. Afterward, Thomas and Birdie are reunited with their older cousin Clem, who had been sold away, and make good on a promise to Green (who doesn’t survive) to settle with his Vermont parents and attend the school taught by his sweetheart.
Sentimental of plotline but informative and breathlessly paced. (Q&A, annotated reading list) (Historical fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-45936-5
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 25, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2013
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