Both balletomanes and seek-and-find lovers should enjoy this performing-arts variation on a popular picture-book game.
Waltz away, Waldo—it’s a ballerina we’re looking for.
Ten full-length classical and romantic ballets—all popular and all performed today (recordings are readily available if readers are motivated to seek them out)—are the settings for a game of spot-the-dancers. Starting with Swan Lake, Claybourne and Goh succinctly retell each ballet’s basic plot using sequential panels and medallion close-ups of the main characters. This is followed by a panoramic two-page vista from the ballet that is densely populated by dancers in costume and manages, in a very busy but entertaining fashion, to capture the setting and spirit of a performance. This is the time to search for those main characters. Romeo and Juliet, Giselle, The Nutcracker, La Bayadère, Coppélia, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, and Cinderella follow. The illustrations are colorful and detailed, capturing the general atmosphere of each ballet. Those who have attended a performance will enjoy the recap and may even experience an aha moment or two. Those new to the ballets will come away with a basic feeling for the tales. A key is provided in the back of the book. Unfortunately, there is no mention of the composers or the music, a significant omission given that ballet is not a silent art form.
Both balletomanes and seek-and-find lovers should enjoy this performing-arts variation on a popular picture-book game. (Picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-61067-515-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda.
Hank Zipzer, poster boy for dyslexic middle graders everywhere, stars in a new prequel series highlighting second-grade trials and triumphs.
Hank’s hopes of playing Aqua Fly, a comic-book character, in the upcoming class play founder when, despite plenty of coaching and preparation, he freezes up during tryouts. He is not particularly comforted when his sympathetic teacher adds a nonspeaking role as a bookmark to the play just for him. Following the pattern laid down in his previous appearances as an older child, he gets plenty of help and support from understanding friends (including Ashley Wong, a new apartment-house neighbor). He even manages to turn lemons into lemonade with a quick bit of improv when Nick “the Tick” McKelty, the sneering classmate who took his preferred role, blanks on his lines during the performance. As the aforementioned bully not only chokes in the clutch and gets a demeaning nickname, but is fat, boastful and eats like a pig, the authors’ sensitivity is rather one-sided. Still, Hank has a winning way of bouncing back from adversity, and like the frequent black-and-white line-and-wash drawings, the typeface is designed with easy legibility in mind.
An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-448-48239-2
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Trisha is ready to start at a new school, where no one will know she has dyslexia. At first, she is heartbroken to be in Miss Peterson’s special-ed class, aka, “the junkyard.” But Miss Peterson treats the children as anything but junk, showing them that everyone has a unique talent. Polacco’s trademark style is fully present here; her sensitively drawn alter ego shines with depth of feeling. When bullying occurs, Miss Peterson proves her students are worthwhile by planning a junkyard field trip, where they find valuable objects to be used in exciting ways. Trisha’s group repairs a plane, and the class buys an engine for it. Then a beloved class member dies, and the children must find a way to honor him. While the plot meanders somewhat, the characters are appealing, believable and provide a fine portrayal of a truly special class. Children will be drawn in by the story’s warmth and gentle humor and will leave with a spark of inspiration, an appreciation of individual differences and a firm anti-bullying message, all underscored by the author’s note that concludes the book. (Picture book. 7-10)
Pub Date: July 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-399-25078-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2010
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