Told with restraint and ease, this book is about a romantic legend that haunts the ubiquitous pottery design. It begins with an invitation: ``Fly with me, over China, and down into the landscape of the willow pattern.'' Readers are thrust into the blue-and-white realm of lovers Koong Shee and Chang, respectively, a wealthy mandarin's daughter and a poor servant. But Koong Shee, betrothed to an old merchant, is locked away by her father; Chang rescues her on her wedding day and they embark on a happy life in hiding. Ultimately, the mandarin finds them and throws them into a maze beneath his Great Pagoda; when he and the lovers die, their world becomes as eternal and changeless as the now-familiar willow pattern. Any child who has ever imagined a journey into a two- dimensional expanse will be carried away by the passion Drummond brings to his subject. His blending of still elements from the pottery with looser, livelier drawings of the story's pursuits have a lyrical grace, although the order of events in text and pictures sometimes disagrees (spot vignettes of later action in the tale occasionally precede larger visuals of earlier incidents). An author's note in the end warns readers of the ``truth'' about this pattern and legend, notably, their British origins. A charmed work, told with conviction and a sure hand. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1992
ISBN: 1-55858-171-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1992
This is more than just a book about making and engineering: Make an excellent choice to add this to the shelves.
Follow along as a child makes a spaceship, a friend, and a difference in her community.
“Ask yourself this question in the morning when you wake: / in a world of possibilities, today, what will you make?” Upon waking up, a young girl uses her imagination and things she has at home to make a tower, a drum set, and a spaceship. When she ventures outside, she makes a new friend. Working together, they make a lemonade stand and then make a donation to the local park. Finally, they make a choice to help more in order to make a difference in their community. Howes speaks to readers in rhyming verse about the many things they can make, intentionally repeating the verb throughout. Including themes of creativity, imagination, music, engineering, relationships, economics, and community service, she creates a powerful message about making choices to be proud of. Vukovic uses mixed media, including watercolors and crayon, to create lively, striking illustrations. The pictures capture a child’s imagination and how ordinary things can be made into something extraordinary. Together the text and the illustrations create an excellent read that will empower readers to reflect on their own lives and make a change or two or three. The unnamed protagonist has brown skin and long, dark braids; her friend presents white.
This is more than just a book about making and engineering: Make an excellent choice to add this to the shelves. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5124-9802-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Review Posted Online: Dec. 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
Dooley (Everybody Bakes Bread, 1996, etc.) dishes up another premise for Carrie to eat her way around her multicultural neighborhood. Thornton again offers framed, lifeless illustrations that stick to a predictable text. Today is a snow day at school and Christmas approaches. Carrie is tapped out after buying gifts for everybody except Mom, who always wants “anything that comes from your heart.” She hopes to earn money by shoveling snow. But when she helps Tito shovel his walk and steps, he tells her the landlord won’t pay, although they can warm up with a bowl of his sister Fendra’s Puerto Rican pea soup. Carrie gets the recipe. John has a cold and can’t shovel, but his mom offers a cup of Greek lemon-chicken soup and the recipe. And so it goes—recipes pour in along with Mark’s mom’s corn chowder, Darlene’s grandaunt’s oxtail soup, and Wendy’s mom’s miso soup. Recipes, however, don’t buy gifts, and at the end of the day Carrie has earned only ten dollars from Dad. That and Mrs. Max’s idea are enough to buy Mom’s gift—a blank book in which Carrie can write her newfound recipes. Preparing for Hanukkah, Mrs. Max reminds Carrie that “good soup with a friend warms more than the body.” The recipes included give readers an opportunity to test that notion in a book more cookery than fiction, more work-a-day than holiday. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2000
ISBN: 1-57505-422-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2000
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