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HOW TO GET FAMOUS IN BROOKLYN

Name: HOW TO GET FAMOUS IN BROOKLYN
Author: Amy Hest
ISBN: 0-689-80293-5

by Amy Hest & illustrated by Linda Dalal Sawaya ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1995

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A veteran author (The Private Notebook of Katie Roberts, Age 11, p. 710, etc.) and new artist form an uneasy alliance for this idealized tour of a Brooklyn neighborhood. Armed with notebooks and colored markers, Janie does ``spy work,'' recording conversations in Margie's Hair Palace, describing her own likes and dislikes, and observing every small detail on her street. In bright, folksy drawings, Sawaya portrays an idyllic world of small shops on neat, litter-free streets. A scattering of visual cluesmelons sold off a horse-drawn cart, a barbershop sign reading ``Haircuts 15õ''reveals that the setting might not be present-day, even though the clothing, bikes, and cars are contemporary, and miniskirts as well as blow-dryers appear in the beauty salon scene. Much of the narrative appears on a ruled background meant to be the pages of a notebook, but the typeface looks nothing like hand-lettering; these spiral-bound pages magically become loose leaf at the end, when the wind blows them into the hands of passersby``And that, for your information, is how to get famous in Brooklyn.'' Janie is an engaging character, but the flaws throughout mar this light tale. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1995

ISBN: 0-689-80293-5

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1995

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
BUNNY SHOULD BE SLEEPING
by Amy Hest ; illustrated by Renata Liwska

- BOOK REVIEW
JUST THE WAY THEY ARE
by Amy Hest ; illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton

- BOOK REVIEW
SOMETIMES IT'S NICE TO BE ALONE
by Amy Hest ; illustrated by Philip C. Stead

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THE DOG THAT DUG FOR DINOSAURS

by Shirley Redmond & illustrated by Simon Sullivan ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2004

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This easy reader for children reading at the fluency level recounts the story of a girl named Mary Ann Anning and her dog, Tray. They lived on the coast of England in the early 1800s, although the time frame is given only as “a long, long time ago.” Mary Ann and Tray became famous for their discoveries of fossils, including dinosaur bones. They discovered the first pterodactyl found in England, and the name was assigned to their fossil. The story focuses a little too much on the dog, and the title misses a great opportunity to completely acknowledge a girl accomplishing something important in the scientific world, especially in a much earlier era and without formal training or education. Despite this drawback, both Mary Ann and Tray are appealing characters and the discovery of the fossils and subsequent notice from scientists, collectors, and even royalty is appealing and well written. Sullivan’s illustrations provide intriguing period details in costumes, tools, and buildings, as well as a clever front endpaper of fossil-strewn ground covered with muddy paw prints. (Easy reader. 6-8)

Pub Date: July 1, 2004

ISBN: 0-689-85708-X

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Aladdin

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2004

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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PROFESSOR ASTRO CAT'S SPACE ROCKETS

From the Professor Astro Cat series

by Dominic Walliman ; illustrated by Ben Newman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 4, 2018

Energetic enough to carry younger rocketeers off the launch pad if not into a very high orbit.

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The bubble-helmeted feline explains what rockets do and the role they have played in sending people (and animals) into space.

Addressing a somewhat younger audience than in previous outings (Professor Astro Cat’s Frontiers of Space, 2013, etc.), Astro Cat dispenses with all but a light shower of “factoroids” to describe how rockets work. A highly selective “History of Space Travel” follows—beginning with a crew of fruit flies sent aloft in 1947, later the dog Laika (her dismal fate left unmentioned), and the human Yuri Gagarin. Then it’s on to Apollo 11 in 1969; the space shuttles Discovery, Columbia, and Challenger (the fates of the latter two likewise elided); the promise of NASA’s next-gen Orion and the Space Launch System; and finally vague closing references to other rockets in the works for local tourism and, eventually, interstellar travel. In the illustrations the spacesuited professor, joined by a mouse and cat in similar dress, do little except float in space and point at things. Still, the art has a stylish retro look, and portraits of Sally Ride and Guion Bluford diversify an otherwise all-white, all-male astronaut corps posing heroically or riding blocky, geometric spacecraft across starry reaches.

Energetic enough to carry younger rocketeers off the launch pad if not into a very high orbit. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 6-8)