Having flung their intrepid young characters through breakneck homages to Art (Anna’s Art Adventure, 1999) and Literature (The Story in Search of a Story, 1999), Sortland and Elling now plunge them into a whirl of scenes from classic cinema. As in the previous tales, it’s an allusive landscape that is traversed. Here, Max Schreck (“Nosferatu”) rears up next to a poster of Al Jolson in blackface; there, a breathless ride on Ben-Hur’s chariot is followed by encounters with Tarzan, King Kong, a soggy singer in the rain, and finally a sad old man who persuades Anna and Henry to trade their newest Christmas present, a sled (“Rosebud”), for a snow globe. The references are identified and described at the end, but not in enough detail to spark much interest in child readers, who will most likely be familiar only with Disney’s Alice in Wonderland and, perhaps, the original King Kong, certainly not The Seven Samurai or Potemkin. Older film buffs will recognize both scenes and stars, even though Elling’s dark, indistinct figures tend toward caricature. Like the previous tours, this is more about name-dropping than real appreciation. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-87614-009-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2001
Trickling, bubbling, swirling, rushing, a river flows down from its mountain beginnings, past peaceful country and bustling city on its way to the sea. Hooper (The Drop in My Drink, 1998, etc.) artfully evokes the water’s changing character as it transforms from “milky-cold / rattling-bold” to a wide, slow “sliding past mudflats / looping through marshes” to the end of its journey. Willey, best known for illustrating Geraldine McCaughrean’s spectacular folk-tale collections, contributes finely detailed scenes crafted in shimmering, intricate blues and greens, capturing mountain’s chill, the bucolic serenity of passing pastures, and a sense of mystery in the water’s shadowy depths. Though Hooper refers to “the cans and cartons / and bits of old wood” being swept along, there’s no direct conservation agenda here (for that, see Debby Atwell’s River, 1999), just appreciation for the river’s beauty and being. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: June 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0792-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000
Every year since kindergarten, Harry’s Halloween costume has gotten scarier and scarier. What’s it going to be this year? He’s not telling. His classmates are all stunned when he shows up, not as some monster or a weird alien (well, not really)—but as neatly dressed Sgt. Joe Friday of Dragnet fame, wielding a notebook and out to get “just the facts, ma’am.” As she has in Harry’s 11 previous appearances (15, counting the ones his classmate Song Lee headlines), Kline (Marvin and the Mean Words, 1997, etc.) captures grammar-school atmosphere, personalities, and incidents perfectly, from snits to science projects gone hilariously wrong. She even hands Harry/Friday a chance to exercise his sleuthing abilities, with a supply of baby powder “fairy dust” gone mysteriously missing. As legions of fans have learned to expect, Harry comes through with flying colors, pinning down the remorseful culprit in 11 minutes flat. No surprises here, just reliable, child-friendly, middle-grade fare. Illustrations not seen. (Fiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-670-88864-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2000
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