Nearly every child will know his work already: here’s at least a superficial glimpse of his character.
Meltzer holds up the great Muppeteer as a role model.
As in previous profiles in his Ordinary People Change the World series, the author crafts a first-person narrative that is light on biographical details and heavy on message. After pointing to significant early influences, from Edgar Bergen to Kukla, Fran and Ollie, the fictive Henson carries his career through Sesame Street, leads a chorus of Muppets singing “Rainbow Connection,” and concludes with a homiletic lecture: “Believe in the good of the world. Create something new. Share what you love….And never stop being kind. There’s nothing wrong with being a do-gooder.” Per series formula, Eliopoulos depicts his subject in cartoon illustrations as a bobblehead doll who remains child-sized throughout despite sporting a heavy beard from early youth. Recognizably drawn Muppets and co-workers are introduced by name, and a late scene extends the Henson story to its sadly premature end with a multiethnic group of children viewing a museum exhibit of selected monsters and movie posters.
Nearly every child will know his work already: here’s at least a superficial glimpse of his character. (photos, timeline, bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-525-42850-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2016
For Boomers, a nostalgic trip back to their diaper-clad days, and if not exactly multicultural (despite some song lyrics in...
Despite the art’s distinctly retro look and coloring, the five Golden Books in this gathering—four complete, one excerpted—only rarely come off as period pieces.
Lap-sitters and lap-providers alike will enjoy following a delighted-looking preschooler who is credibly ambiguous of gender, though to judge from the visible toys and furniture, probably originally intended to be a girl. She takes them on a tour of Baby’s House (1950, written by Gelolo McHugh) before moving on to Ruth Krauss’s hymn to empowerment I Can Fly (1950), the concept-driven Up and Down Book (1964), the contemporary nursery rhymes of Miriam Clark Potter in The Golden Book of Little Verses (1953) and the 21 standard folk songs and singing games selected from The New Golden Song Book (1955). All but the last two titles are published here for the first time in a large format. Though Blair’s modernist illustrations display stylistic changes over the years, they make the transition in size without losing their bright colors and sharply defined figures. Furthermore, her fondness for floating children, familiar pets or farm animals and isolated details in open-bordered compositions adds timeless, energetic visual rhythms, even to bedtime scenes.
For Boomers, a nostalgic trip back to their diaper-clad days, and if not exactly multicultural (despite some song lyrics in German and French), still enjoyable for today's young children. (introduction) (Picture book collection. 3-5, adult)Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-375-87044-6
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Golden Books/Random
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An accessible, inviting title for brand new readers.
The latest collaboration from the father-and-daughter team is nice indeed.
Beginning with its title, this very beginning reader employs a controlled, rhyming text to tell the story of mice who strap on ice skates and joyfully glide across the ice. Bright, colorful cut-paper and digital illustrations adopt a perspective that enables readers to see the increasingly intricate tracings left on the ice by the skates. Then, three successive pages read, “Someone is waiting. / What is this? / What is that?” and careful readers will see that the marks of the tracings have come together to look like the outline of a cat’s face. Rather inexplicably, the page turn then reveals a cat in full color, accompanied by the words, “That is a cat.” Ensuing pages show the cat merrily skating along with the mice, who don’t seem to be the least bit afraid. “The cat with a hat skates with mice on ice. / Nice!” read the concluding lines, putting a cheery, if not particularly exciting, end to the book.
An accessible, inviting title for brand new readers. (Picture book/early reader. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8234-2576-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: July 31, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2012
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