Cheng’s (Marika, 2002, etc.) warm tale of a 19th-century bookbinder’s daughter, who courageously tackles an important commission when her father is suddenly called away, gets serene, dignified illustrations from the veteran Rand (Country Kid, City Kid, 2002, etc.). The shop’s biggest customer has threatened to take his business to the industrial binder if Papa can’t finish repairing a leather-bound set in three days—and it looks like he’s going to miss that deadline when Mama goes into labor. So Anna, who has been haunting the binder’s studio for years, carefully waxes a length of string and sets to work. Though what exactly Anna does is not accurately illustrated or well-described, Rand does depict some of a binder’s equipment, and his focus on Anna’s intent face and capable hands brings out the painstaking care she takes in the work. In the end, Anna has not only her weary father’s approval, but a new baby brother and a beautifully bound volume of Aesop’s fables for her very own. The author weaves in references to “The Tortoise and the Hare” to point up differences between work done by hand and by quicker but less reliable machines—a theme that is still relevant, and adds resonance to this intimate family episode. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 15, 2003
ISBN: 0-8027-8831-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2003
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Amanda (Boom Town, 1998, etc.) returns for her third adventure, this time standing in for her mother who has returned to the East to care for her ailing mother. Amanda figures she’s more than up to the challenge of housekeeping for her father, three older brothers, and Baby Nathan. Determined to do it all herself, Amanda spurns her father’s suggestion to seek help—even though dinners are getting progressively less appealing. Baby Nathan proves to be her true undoing, and finally Amanda solicits help, realizing that trouble shared is trouble halved. By the time her mother returns (an easy trip, apparently, to the other coast and back), Amanda is ready for an extended break, and readers will be, too. This story is a flat, humorless extension of the last two books; Baby Nathan’s shenanigans are predictable, forgettable, and woefully tame. Smith’s watercolors inject some spunk, but it may be time for Amanda’s adventures to come to a rest. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-531-30149-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1999
PLB 0-7358-1072-9 The Little Green Goose ($15.95, PLB $15.88; Apr.; 32 pp.; 0-7358-1071-0, PLB 0-7358-1072-9): Single fatherhood gets a boost in this identity tale of a goose who yearns for a child. When the egg he adopts hatches into a brilliantly colored green dragon, the other members of the barnyard make fun of his child’s origins, noting the differences between offspring and parent. To the delight of readers, the text never refers to the creature as anything but a green goose, and the underlying message of the tale—that love, not biology, makes a family—will reassure listeners. Whimsical illustrations capture the gamut of emotions and the last spread could serve as an advertisement for contentment. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7358-1071-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
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