A compelling tale about the passing of artistic vision from generation to generation. When young Josiah True meets a traveling artist who has come to paint his family's portrait, he begins to discover his own calling. The ``Art Maker,'' as Patience Cage is known in her travels around the Connecticut River Valley of 1817, has a very special vision of the world—it is said that ``she can see into the very soul of a man!'' Josiah is fascinated by the tools of her trade, the paints she mixes, and the paintbrushes she has fashioned out of hog bristles. He watches raptly as Patience paints the reality of his mother's dark eyes and hidden smile, and includes a picture of a grand red gown his mother would like to own, but doesn't. When the portrait is completed, Patience gives Josiah a bound bristle brush. He grows up and becomes an artist who can ``see into the very soul of a man.'' Littlesugar (The Spinner's Daughter, 1994) subtly creates a sense of time and place, further enhanced by Garrison's work. The folk art illustrations, in sepia and other earth tones, were created by a technique described on the copyright page as ``collagraphy.'' Like Josiah, readers will be intrigued by the artist's method for creation of her illusions. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: May 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-671-88354-2
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1995
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
The can’t-miss subject of this Step into Reading series entry—a unicorn with a magic horn who also longs for wings—trumps its text, which is dry even by easy-reader standards. A boy unicorn, whose horn has healing powers, reveals his wish to a butterfly in a castle garden, a bluebird in the forest and a snowy white swan in a pond. Falling asleep at the edge of the sea, the unicorn is visited by a winged white mare. He heals her broken wing and she flies away. After sadly invoking his wish once more, he sees his reflection: “He had big white wings!” He flies off after the mare, because he “wanted to say, ‘Thank you.’ ” Perfectly suiting this confection, Silin-Palmer’s pictures teem with the mass market–fueled iconography of what little girls are (ostensibly) made of: rainbows, flowers, twinkly stars and, of course, manes down to there. (Easy reader. 4-7)
Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2006
ISBN: 0-375-83117-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
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