Disgusting and futile medical practices are always a pleasure to contemplate. Beccia, following closely in the spirit of The Raucous Royals (2008)—dry-witted artwork, conversational text, engaging historical detective work—asks readers to guess which “cures” may actually have helped a handful of ailments. Take a nasty cough, for example: Should you take a heaping helping of caterpillar fungus, frog soup or cherry bark? Common good sense will lead readers to wag their heads no when it comes to sprinkling mummy powder on a wound or drilling a hole in your head to relieve a headache, though some counterintuitive measures will come as a surprise success: spider web for an open wound, frog slime for a sore throat, moldy bread to treat a cut. The author provides intriguing background information on the cures—where they arose, why they were thought to be efficacious—and pulls more than one gem out of the nastiness, such as the property of silver to kill bacteria, giving birth to a familiar expression: “In the Middle Ages, wealthy-born babies sucked on silver spoons to protect against plague....” (note, bibliography) (Informational picture book. 6-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-547-22570-8
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2010
Future voters of the world, unite. The vote, Stier makes clear, is a great gift we have given ourselves.
A proudly buoyant tour of Election Day in the U.S.A.
This spry salute to the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November generates a significant amount of positive energy. Only through active engagement in the process—informing yourself, going to the polling station—will you be tapping into the possibilities of the system. Everything else is just so much hot air. Stier neither belabors nor stints on the text. There is a decent amount of information to be imparted, if only to acquaint readers with political parties, campaigns, Congress, the history of the vote, Constitutional amendments, debates and voting, and it is done in an easy, if modestly didactic voice. It has the genuine ring of smart young students giving the oral presentation of their civics projects, sweet and serious. Stier situates the activity around the children's school, and Leonard makes the most of the setting, giving it the warm, watercolor cast of a small town, yet modern in its computer voting machines. And all ages are involved, young to old, with the finger squarely placed on the importance of 18-year-olds assuming this mantle of importance.
Future voters of the world, unite. The vote, Stier makes clear, is a great gift we have given ourselves. (Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: July 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8075-8008-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: April 10, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A stunning visual recreation of a recent historical event.
Freedom and libraries: an essential combination.
During the tumultuous days of the Arab Spring when Egyptians marched to bring down their government, youthful demonstrators and library staff stood together to protect the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, contemporary counterpart to the Great Library of Alexandria, from vandalism. Roth’s exuberant collages capture these heady moments, blending photos, papers and fabrics to bring the people’s positive actions and the building’s intriguing facade together in a celebration of patriotism and libraries. The co-authors personalize the historical events by using Shaimaa Saad, a former children’s librarian, as the narrator. The text begins traditionally but quickly changes to indicate that this is a contemporary story: “Once upon a time, / not a long time ago, / many people in Egypt / were sad and sometimes angry, / because they were not free to speak, / or vote as they wished, or gather in groups.” Young people one by one join Dr. Ismail Serageldin, the library’s director, in a human chain around the building and unfurl a giant Egyptian flag on its steps (also shown in photographs at the end) with palpable ebullience. Extensive and accessible backmatter includes information about the ancient and modern libraries, the January 25, 2011, Revolution, an author’s note, resources, protest-sign translations and graphic motifs.
A stunning visual recreation of a recent historical event. (Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3747-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: June 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2012
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