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CHILI-CHILI-CHIN-CHIN

Name: CHILI-CHILI-CHIN-CHIN
Author: Belle Yang
ISBN: 0-15-202006-3

by Belle Yang ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1999

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Chili-Chili-Chin-Chin is a donkey that knows what it likes and what it dislikes. Complementing Yang’s color-saturated artwork is a simple text that makes clear Chili-Chili-Chin-Chin’s purpose and declaration: “Some people say, ‘Chili-Chili-Chin-Chin, you sweet donkey, I want to ride you, I want to own you.’ ‘Oh, no, never! Impossible!’ I tell them, and send them on their way,” with a hoof to the hindquarters. There is one person Chili-Chili-Chin-Chin enjoys spending time with: the little boy who named him, after the sounds of the bells around the donkey’s neck. They travel around the countryside, season to season, in pursuit of blossoms in spring and turtles in summer, persimmons in the fall, and laying down a fresh set of tracks in the snow. They are pals who appreciate the subtlety of friendship, as when “he gives me room to be alone with my thoughts.” Whether giving room or sharing good times, Chili-Chili-Chin-Chin and the boy’s approach gives friendship an enviable suppleness. (Picture book. 3-8)

Pub Date: May 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-15-202006-3

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1999

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
FORGET SORROW
by Belle Yang

- BOOK REVIEW
THE ODYSSEY OF A MANCHURIAN
by Belle Yang

- BOOK REVIEW
BABA
by Belle Yang

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KATIE AND THE MONA LISA

by James Mayhew ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1999

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Katie’s back (Katie Meets the Impressionists, p. 148) this time to trip through the world of Renaissance paintings with her new friend, Mona Lisa. When Katie appears inside her painting, Mona Lisa admits she’s lonely and starts to cry. Plucky Katie decides to give her a walking tour through the other paintings to cheer her friend up. The chivalrous hero of St. George and the Dragon is charmed by Mona Lisa’s beauty, but a visit to Botticelli’s Primavera angers the dancing muses, who chase the two new friends away. Eventually, the main character in The Lion of St. Mark and St. George’s dragon lock claws in a fight on the museum floor, which involves the muses, St. George, an angel with a lute, and museum patrons. The fight tickles Mona Lisa’s funny bone. Mayhew’s drawings artfully combine classical reproductions with lively illustrations, in this more sobering trek through art than found in Bjorn Sortland’s Anna’s Art Adventure (p. 889) (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-531-30177-X

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Orchard

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1999

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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BEDBUGS

by Megan McDonald ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1999

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PLB 0-531-33193-8 Bedbugs (32 pp.; $15.95; PLB $16.99; Sept.; 0-531-30193-8; PLB 0-531-33193-8): Getting ready for bed is a challenge if there’s an ostrich in the bathtub, and everyone knows that it’s hard to brush teeth with a shark in the sink. Both parents and children will identify with Susan’s clever attempts to put off going to sleep and will chuckle at the illustrations showing the transformation of everyday objects into creatures unlikely to reside in any normal family’s home. Johnson is fearless in his depictions of the creatures, imaginary and real, residing in Susan’s home, and the ongoing conversation between father and daughter is one children will recognize and relish. (Picture book. 3-6)