Between nipping, yipping, and escaping from alligators, Nipper tells a great story of a long-ago time but of a place that...
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
An appealing snapshot of rough-hewn life that might well make kids appreciate washing machines.
It’s washday. That doesn’t mean putting clothes in the washing machine and turning the knob or driving to the laundromat; it’s 1889, when it’s the old-fashioned way of getting clothes clean.
Lizzie and her doll, Amelia Cordelia, walk to her grandmother’s house to help because her Ma is soon to have a baby. The work is hard: boiling water in a big copper kettle; adding shavings of lye soap; sorting the clothes by color (whites for Sunday “go-to-meeting” clothes); using the broom handle to lift the hot clothing into rinse water; putting them through the wringer; and drying them on the outdoor clothesline. Taking a break with a glass of buttermilk, Lizzie is sad thinking about the doll tea party she was supposed to have with her friend that day. Surprise! Grandma has set the table for a tea party with special dishes and doll-size snickerdoodles and places for her best friend and her doll. Bunting evokes a homespun experience with emotions and details that the pencil-and-watercolor illustrations adroitly augment. Sneed neither whitewashes nor prettifies the harshness of the time; Grandma is a robust woman with hair in a bun and a big nose. Historical details like hairstyles and sturdy black shoes combine with phrases like “Grandma’s dog…has the misery in his back” to make the story feel genuine.
An appealing snapshot of rough-hewn life that might well make kids appreciate washing machines. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-8234-2868-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Jan. 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2014
This uncomplicated narrative of Danish resistance will facilitate teaching and discussion of a difficult yet necessary...
Residents of a small town in Nazi-occupied Denmark work together to provide a hidden Jewish mother and son safe passage to neutral Sweden.
“New friends” are being harbored in Anett’s dark basement for two nights. Though afraid, she allows their whispering voices to lead her down the stairs. Anett brings food from her mother’s kitchen and books from the library until the boy and his mother can secretly board a fishing boat that will cross over to Sweden. Most of Anett’s daily encounters with neighbors and shopkeepers show that the townsfolk support Anett’s family in their dangerous effort. When the Nazis begin to search houses each night, the situation becomes even more perilous for Anett’s family, and her father determines that they must be taken to the harbor despite the obscuring clouds. Without moonlight, the Jews are beckoned from door to door, guided only by whispering voices—“This way”—that indicate the route to safety. The direct simplicity of the story’s telling serves well as an introduction for younger children to the Holocaust. Dark cartoon sketches reminiscent of Tomi Ungerer in opaque black, blues, grays and khaki green markers and word bubbles with the key words of direction paint the ominous atmosphere.
This uncomplicated narrative of Danish resistance will facilitate teaching and discussion of a difficult yet necessary subject. (author’s note) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4677-1194-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kar-Ben
Review Posted Online: Jan. 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2014
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