Lorenz and Schleh (House, 1998, etc.) have wonderfully imagined 14 places or structures made famous by myth and legend, offering wry commentary and myriad details to pore over. This book literally starts at the beginning, covering the Garden of Eden, the Ark, and the Tower of Babel; Lorenz and Schleh travel with Odysseus around the Aegean and with Robin Hood and his men through Sherwood Forest, wreak havoc with Genghis Khan, and foster menace with Dracula. Each locale is given a page-long introduction, before a gatefold page reveals an outsized illustration elegantly crammed with detail, incident, and witticisms (so much so that a magnifying glass has been included). The utterly transporting artwork is a marvel of color and visual narrative, with plenty of humor (Noah’s ark comes equipped with methane vents), quietly biting commentary (the page of the Ark is bordered by drawings of endangered species), and quests that readers can embark on within the illustrations. Within these pages are funny details for the Where’s Waldo? set, with a sophisticated comedic embrace for older children, and some set pieces, dry as tinder, that will spark laughter in onlooking adults. (Picture book. 7+)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8109-4110-4
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1999
Man’s best friend is at the heart of 13 curious tales culled from worldwide traditions, crossing oceans and time. From Africa to Arabia, China to Japan, the stories span a range in both tone and subject matter. While many of the stories appeared in the Hausmans’ The Mythology of Dogs (1997), those regathered here are the archetypal and mythological, the fanciful and magical, including ghost dogs, immortals, and canine heroes who speak and sing, marry princesses, transform, catch flying bullets in their teeth, and recover magic rings. A two-inch-tall faery dog shines in “King Herla’s Hound,” while the mighty Thor’s companion reveals why the watchdog Rottweiler’s fierce growl sounds like thunder in the throat in the pourquoi tale “Thunder Mouth Dog.” The Hausmans are well-grounded in both folkloric elements and storytelling sensibility, arranging their tales in short chapters such as “Trickster Dogs,” “Enchanted Dogs,” and “Guardian Dogs”; they punctuate each with an explanatory, if complex, punchline of sorts. Moser’s characteristically striking design portrays the akita and basenji, spaniel and shar-pei as if the dogs posed for portrait sittings. Singular compositions focus on each dog as individual, without ornament or fanfare, as if in sculptural relief, carved against the surrounding vast plane of the page. (notes, sources) (Folklore. 8-14)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-689-80696-5
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999
Whirls of tiny, brightly dressed people’some with wings—fill Kleven’s kaleidoscopic portraits of sun-drenched Los Angeles neighborhoods and landmarks; the Los Angeles—based authors supply equally colorful accounts of the city’s growth, festivals, and citizens, using an appended chronology to squeeze in a few more anecdotes. As does Kathy Jakobsen’s My New York (1998), Jaskol and Lewis’s book captures a vivid sense of a major urban area’s bustle, diversity, and distinctive character; young Angelenos will get a hearty dose of civic pride, and children everywhere will find new details in the vibrant illustrations at every pass. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-10)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-525-46214-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999
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