NIPPER OF DRAYTON HALL

Name: NIPPER OF DRAYTON HALL
Author: Amey Lewis
ISBN: 978-1-61117-625-4

by Amey Lewis ; illustrated by Gerry McElroy ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 27, 2015

Between nipping, yipping, and escaping from alligators, Nipper tells a great story of a long-ago time but of a place that...

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A graceful, episodic story set in 1916 about South Carolina’s Drayton Hall Plantation, told through the eyes of a lively black-and-white dog, Nipper, who really lived there.

Lewis tells a compelling story, accompanied by McElroy’s exquisite watercolor illustrations, of this old plantation house and the last generation of the Drayton family, who inhabited it. Nipper travels from his owner’s Charleston home to the countryside, where he greets Sammy and Emma, the African-American couple who take care of the house, and plays with Richmond, the African-American boy who lives on the property. Into Nipper’s narrative Lewis seamlessly weaves historical tidbits about the family’s coat of arms, the architecture, and landscape features, both natural and artificial. While the caretakers descended from the slaves who cared for the Drayton family generations before, the book carefully avoids stereotype in both the wispy watercolor images and in the language. A quintessential dog, Nipper loves all of the humans without distinction, and making him the narrator helps with objectivity. Rich backmatter about the house and its inhabitants may pique readers’ interest in visiting this important historic site, now preserved and open to the public.

Between nipping, yipping, and escaping from alligators, Nipper tells a great story of a long-ago time but of a place that still stands . (Picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 27, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-61117-625-4

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Univ. of South Carolina

Review Posted Online: July 14, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2015

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

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THE ADVENTURES OF HENRY WHISKERS

From the Adventures of Henry Whiskers series , Vol. 1

by Gigi Priebe ; illustrated by Daniel Duncan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 3, 2017

Innocuous adventuring on the smallest of scales.

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The Mouse and the Motorcycle (1965) upgrades to The Mice and the Rolls-Royce.

In Windsor Castle there sits a “dollhouse like no other,” replete with working plumbing, electricity, and even a full library of real, tiny books. Called Queen Mary’s Dollhouse, it also plays host to the Whiskers family, a clan of mice that has maintained the house for generations. Henry Whiskers and his cousin Jeremy get up to the usual high jinks young mice get up to, but when Henry’s little sister Isabel goes missing at the same time that the humans decide to clean the house up, the usually bookish big brother goes on the adventure of his life. Now Henry is driving cars, avoiding cats, escaping rats, and all before the upcoming mouse Masquerade. Like an extended version of Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Two Bad Mice (1904), Priebe keeps this short chapter book constantly moving, with Duncan’s peppy art a cute capper. Oddly, the dollhouse itself plays only the smallest of roles in this story, and no factual information on the real Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House is included at the tale’s end (an opportunity lost).

Innocuous adventuring on the smallest of scales. (Fantasy. 6-8)

Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-4814-6575-5

Page Count: 144

Publisher: Aladdin

Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

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MUMBET'S DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

by Gretchen Woelfle ; illustrated by Alix Delinois ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2014

A life devoted to freedom and dignity, worthy of praise and remembrance.

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With the words of Massachusetts colonial rebels ringing in her ears, a slave determines to win her freedom.

In 1780, Mumbet heard the words of the new Massachusetts constitution, including its declaration of freedom and equality. With the help of a young lawyer, she went to court and the following year, won her freedom, becoming Elizabeth Freeman. Slavery was declared illegal and subsequently outlawed in the state. Woelfle writes with fervor as she describes Mumbet’s life in the household of John Ashley, a rich landowner and businessman who hosted protest meetings against British taxation. His wife was abrasive and abusive, striking out with a coal shovel at a young girl, possibly Mumbet’s daughter. Mumbet deflected the blow and regarded the wound as “her badge of bravery.” Ironically, the lawyer who took her case, Theodore Sedgwick, had attended John Ashley’s meetings. Delinois’ full-bleed paintings are heroic in scale, richly textured and vibrant. Typography becomes part of the page design as the font increases when the text mentions freedom. Another slave in the Ashley household was named in the court case, but Woelfle, keeping her young audience in mind, keeps it simple, wisely focusing on Mumbet.

A life devoted to freedom and dignity, worthy of praise and remembrance. (author’s note, selected bibliography, further reading) (Picture book/biography. 5-8)