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LET'S PLAY

Name: LET'S PLAY
Author: Camilla Gryski
ISBN: 1-55074-497-6

TRADITIONAL GAMES OF CHILDHOOD

by Camilla Gryski & illustrated by Dušan Petričić ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1998

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A joyous initiation into the world of old-fashioned fun, for kids whose games are now enjoyed in adult-supervised play-dates, cyberspace, and television. Although it will be odd for adults to see that old favorites such as hide-and-seek, tag, marbles, and hopscotch are passed along in a book instead of on the playground, Gryski (Friendship Bracelets, 1993) does a marvelous job of making such age-old games look at least as fun as Nintendo. Leap frog includes intriguing variations, such as “Keep the Kettle Boiling,” and the jump-rope rhymes will keep even skilled skippers on their toes. She also includes snippets of history, e.g., jacks were called “Astragals” by the Romans and played with sheep’s ankle bones. Petricic’s pictures are boisterous visualizations of Gryski’s ideas: An illustration of the game of Telephone shows a girl whispering a picture of a chicken to her friend; as each child passes the message along, the view of the chicken utterly disintegrates. One of the book’s finer moments is found in the introduction, which encourages children to alter the games: “These games belong to you, too. They are yours to play.” (Nonfiction. 7-10)

Pub Date: April 1, 1998

ISBN: 1-55074-497-6

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Kids Can

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1998

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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RIVER STORY

by Meredith Hooper & illustrated by Bee Willey ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2000

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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CELEBRITY CAT
by Meredith Hooper & illustrated by Bee Willey

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GOLD QUEST
by Meredith Hooper & illustrated by Stephen Biesty

- BOOK REVIEW
STEPHEN BIESTY’S CASTLES
by Meredith Hooper & illustrated by Stephen Biesty

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BOOKMARKS ARE PEOPLE TOO!

From the Here's Hank series , Vol. 1

by Henry Winkler ; Lin Oliver ; illustrated by Scott Garrett ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 14, 2014

An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda.

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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)