Armstrong (Lives and Legends of the Saints, 1995, etc.) continues her felicitous union of celebrated paintings with stories from the religious tradition, this time relating the achievements of a series of women in brief, biographical sketches and presenting their portraits by medieval, Renaissance, or 17-century artists from Cranach to Rogier van der Weyden. This handsome volume brings to life the actions of women in arenas as seemingly disparate as the domestic and the international, the traditionally nurturant and the politically (and so ruthlessly) expedient. Of the 22 women featured, 13 are from the Old Testament (Eve, Hagar, Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Leah, Deborah, Delilah, Ruth, Naomi, Abigail, Bathsheba, Esther), 2 are from the Apocrypha (Judith, Susanna), and 7 are from the New Testament (Elisabeth, the Virgin Mary, Herodias, Salome, Lazarus's Martha and Mary, Mary Magdalene). A paragraph of critical appreciation of the paintingappearing in high-quality reproduction concludes the text of every spread; succinct bibliographic information appears in a final pictorial index. The book will entice both students of religion and of art history to further study, yet it stands so sturdily on its own as a satisfying survey that it's difficult to conceive of the forum in which it would not be welcome. (Nonfiction. 4-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81728-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
Seuss, with 82 years and 44 books to his credit, is in better than "pretty good shape"; he's in top form with this book...
Over the past 30 years, Dr. Seuss has endeared himself to millions of youngsters (and harried older types) with his tales of such giggle-producing creatures as "The Cat in the Hat" and "Yertle the Turtle."
Now, finally, he's written a book for those he calls "obsolete children." It's the nicest thing to happen to "senior citizens" since Medicare. This time around, the Doctor enlists his jaunty rhymes and sprightly illustrations to present a not altogether tongue-in-cheek look at that unnerving ritual of aging, "the medical check-up." His reactions to the whole demeaning (and distinctly expensive) process are so wryly knowing he might well have entitled his opus "The Cynic in the Clinic." The medical profession, under Seuss' steady gaze, comes in for some hilarious—and pointed—joshing. The action takes place at the "Golden Years Clinic on Century Square for Spleen Readjustment and Muffler Repair." Here, after first undergoing an "Eyesight and Solvency Test" (the chart reads "Have you any idea how much money these tests are costing you?"), the grey-mustachioed hero meets a battery of specialists including "Von Crandall, the World-Renowned Ear Man" and "Dr. Pollen, the Allergy Whiz." These worthies pinch, prod and poke about in search of such maladies as "Prone Picker's Plight" and "Chimney Sweep's Stupor." Diets are devised—"What you like. . .forget it!" Seuss has a great deal of fun with the "Pill Drill," in which the hero must memorize the dosages of a bewildering medicinal array: "I take the pill with zebra stripes to cure my early evening gripes. . .This long flat one is what I take if I should die before I wake." Having mastered that challenge, he goes from being "properly pilled" to being "properly billed." Finally, socks, coat and pants restored, necktie back under his chin, he's pleased to assure himself, "You're in pretty good shape for the shape you are in."
Seuss, with 82 years and 44 books to his credit, is in better than "pretty good shape"; he's in top form with this book that's sure to delight "obsolete children," and even those of us who are merely obsolescent. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 12, 1986
ISBN: 0394551907
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Oct. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1986
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The language and visuals both will put budding naturalists in a meditative mood.
A poetic tribute to an early-20th-century cousin of Walden and the house where it was written.
Originally published in 1928 and still in print as an early classic of the modern environmental movement, Outermost House chronicles a year spent in a remote bungalow on Cape Cod watching waves and wildlife on the nearby beach and dunes. This account focuses less on Beston—a journalist, author of fairy tales and husband of children’s writer Elizabeth Coatsworth—than on his observations while in residence and the house’s later history up to its being “taken by the ocean” in 1964. Rossiter mixes short quotes from the original (“…the sandpipers stand on one leg and dream, their heads tousled deep in their feathers”) with commentary written in a similarly measured style. Her full-page and double-page–spread paintings are likewise spare: formal glimpses of avian passersby, views of the author gazing out to sea, or broad, subtly colored expanses of sky over ocean bordered by a slanting strip of empty beach.
The language and visuals both will put budding naturalists in a meditative mood. (Picture book. 6-8, adult)Pub Date: July 26, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-56792-433-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Godine
Review Posted Online: May 22, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2012
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf