Lester's lively, evocative artwork far outstrips her clunky narrative in this introduction to Australia's northern outback state of Arnhem Land. Young Ernie is off to Arnhem Land to live for a year with his parents. He has promised to write to his friends about the changing seasons. Lester has set the book up so that a two-page spread introduces each of the six seasons as Ernie relates it to his friends back home, with a half-dozen panels showing typical activities for that time of year. During Yekke, Ernie's friends collect bark and dig for yams; during Wurrkeng they weave pandanus and play tin-trucks, etc. Following these spreads are two-page kickers that describe one dramatic scene, such as a child being frightened by stilt dancers or a boy being told about the Creation Mother by his grandfather while sitting in a cave and looking at a petroglyph. But there is no attempt to weave the information into a satisfying narrative. "Ernie collects green plums with Old Daisy. Tammy digs up a long-necked turtle. Christine has her ears inspected." Plop. Plop. Plop. It is fortunate that the Aboriginal words are spellbinding enough—Dreamtime, Mimi stilt dancers, icypole—for kids to keep their interest through to the glossary at the end of the book. After all this impressive correspondence, Ernie's friends finally write back, asking, "We wonder what you are doing Ernie?" Since he’s done nothing but tell them what he’s been doing for six seasons, this comes across as either a bad joke or just plain weird. As a story, it's a great list. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-618-10442-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Walter Lorraine/Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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