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GIZMO

Name: GIZMO
Author: Barry Varela
ISBN: 978-1-59643-115-7

by Barry Varela & illustrated by Ed Briant ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2007

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Engineering becomes art in this sprightly tale of a huge but useless machine saved from the wrecking ball. Written in rhymed free verse, the tale opens with Professor Ludwig von Glink waking one morning with an idea for a perpetual-motion device. He’s wrong—but so entrancing is his mechanical gizmo that he decides “to work up some specs / and see if I can make this / mingle-mangle of intricate / jury-rigged gimcrackery / yet more complex.” Cheered on by his wife (dressed, as he is, in a lab coat) and five children, the Professor proceeds to wreath the entire house in gears and rods, pulleys, slides and pinwheels. Then a hard-nosed Building Inspector shows up. Using quick strokes of pen and brush, Briant creates buoyant, increasingly crowded cartoon scenes featuring a magnificent construct that almost conceals the house around and through which it snakes—and which is saved by the last minute appeal of the City Contemporary Art Museum’s strong-minded Director. Like another recent iteration of the theme, Dayle Ann Dodds’s Henry’s Amazing Machine (2004), illustrated by Kyrsten Brooker, the unusual language adds great read-aloud potential. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: May 1, 2007

ISBN: 978-1-59643-115-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Neal Porter/Roaring Brook

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2007

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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CATERINA, THE CLEVER FARM GIRL

adapted by Julienne Peterson & illustrated by Enzo Giannini ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1996

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Retold from Tuscan sources, this brief, amiable version of a tale better known as ``Clever Manka'' is matched to appropriately informal illustrations, but neither text nor art does the story justice. Caterina's quick wit earns her a royal marriage, but her new husband soon becomes annoyed at having his decisions constantly questioned. Finally he sends her back to her father, telling her to take what she values most—and he wakes up the next morning in a farmhouse bed. Suffusing the spacious landscapes and interior scenes with an even, golden light, Giannini lavishes more care and attention on details of Renaissance dress, gardens, and furniture than on his generic-looking characters, and viewers may find themselves as often as not distracted from the foreground action. Peterson tells the story in a simple, unornamented way, but the idiom varies from ``If you will not reveal me, I will give you this advice,'' to ``This palace is not big enough for both of us.'' Some of Caterina's cleverness remains a mystery to readers; the king proposes after what is described only as ``a witty conversation in the throne room,'' and it's his idea rather than (as in other versions) hers to take such a parting gift. There are not many folktales that are both nonviolent and feature a capable female lead; use this to introduce younger readers to the story, then offer them more developed versions as soon as possible. (Picture book/folklore. 6-8)

Pub Date: April 1, 1996

ISBN: 0-8037-1181-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Dial Books

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1996

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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A DAY AT DAMP CAMP

by George Ella Lyon & illustrated by Peter Catalanotto ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1996

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A book of pictures and rhymes about life in a girls' camp, highly original in style, but sadly undistinguished in substance, from veteran collaborators (Dreamplace, 1993, etc.). Each two-page spread is filled with three overlapping watercolor pictures, with a big picture framing a smaller picture, and the smaller picture framing the smallest picture, so that only the edges of the two larger pictures are visible. Each of the three pictures is labeled in big block letters with a two-word rhyme: ``high sky/back pack/snail trail.'' The overlapping images are related to one another in a number of different ways with interesting visual effects. Two drawbacks: Catalanotto's paintings, as always, are skillful, but without a trace of excitement and often at cross-purposes with the playfully abstract layout of the book. Second, Lyon's rhymes evoke camp life and hiking trips, but are otherwise lifeless. What drives the book is the design alone; it may not be enough to keep and hold readers. (Picture book. 6-8)