Of books comprising nuggets of memory there seems to be no end, and in a companion volume to her Where the Flame Trees Bloom (1994, not reviewed), Ada recounts small stories of growing up in the town of in CamagÅey, Cuba. She captures with some feeling the powerful effect of scent on memory: night jasmine, coffee, ylang-ylang, and her grandmother’s perfume of lavender and sage. She immortalizes sibling hurts and uncles’ gifts, and writes of the childhood mystery of adult conversations partially overheard and partially understood. She is rich in family, attempting with her grandmother the impossible task of counting bats as they fly, and smashing her favorite doll when her dashing uncle dies in a plane crash. She is rich in memories of other adults, too: Madame Marie, a French-Jewish refugee; Gilda, a dance teacher, whose affection carried Ada through an impossible year at school. Some repetition does not detract, and children might be moved by Ada’s exhortation to consider their own family stories. (b&w photographs) (Memoir. 9-14)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-80631-0
Page Count: 86
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The dramatic events that Browning recorded in 1842 unfold as if they occurred yesterday in Peen’s computer-generated illustrations, which show a historical setting but are unmistakably contemporary. Tugging at both the medieval and modern time periods, these scenes have bold, black, shivering lines and flat expanses of colors in subdued hues, overlaid by different color shapes. The details in this city, from the pillaging rats to the gluttonous council members, bring Browning’s lesson home, although the details of the narrative, in the stylized art, are more abstract. Combining the Kate Greenaway edition and this one at a story hour would comprise the perfect launch for discussion of illustrators and their choices, and the stylistic differences between children’s book art of the last century and this one. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8109-4351-4
Page Count: 38
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1999
Kevin Locke, a Lakota dancer, describes the hoop dance, including the regalia, construction of the hoops, and symbolism of the dance. Contemporary Lakota, accompanied by drummers and vocalists, have revived hoop dancing; dancers perform at powwows and cultural exhibitions, and teach hoop dancing to children to continue the cultural traditions. The authors make clear, as do the full-color photographs, that this art form is a blend of ancient and modern: Locke’s costume includes moccasins beaded by hand in traditional designs, but with modern rubber soles so he doesn’t slip on slick gymnasium floors; his hoops, traditionally made of willow branches, are now made of plastic tubing or rattan; the music may be provided by CD instead of drummers. Both the reverence and high spirits of the dance come through, but only the jacket shows the hoop dancer in motion. Still photos offer a sense of the pattern and difficulty of the movements, but perhaps only a videotape would be able to do the dance justice. (further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: May 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-525-45413-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1999
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