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THE TREE HOUSE CHILDREN

Name: THE TREE HOUSE CHILDREN
Author: Carolyn White
ISBN: 0-671-79818-9

AN AFRICAN TALE

adapted by Carolyn White & illustrated by Christiane Krömer ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 15, 1994

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Folklorist White's first picture book—a simply told, deliciously gruesome tale of a witch stalking two succulent children—will rivet young readers. When their father leaves the baobab treehouse to go fishing, he warns the two not to lower the rope ladder until he calls. Hearing this, a passing witch sticks her tongue into a hill of biting ants to disguise her voice; when that doesn't work, she puts it into a nest of scorpions. Finally, she tricks a dinner invitation out of the father, but the clever daughter (who has seen through all her subterfuges) hides a fishhook in her food. Krîmer's loose-jointed, brightly clad figures framed in African motifs give the story a theatrical look. The witch (cat's eyes, fixed, toothy grin, swollen tongue) is suitably frightful; at her death, all the children she's ever eaten come back to life and fill the treehouse with happy babble. A strong debut for both author and illustrator. No source or comments on the adaption are given. (Folklore/Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: April 15, 1994

ISBN: 0-671-79818-9

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1994

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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THE DOG THAT DUG FOR DINOSAURS

by Shirley Redmond & illustrated by Simon Sullivan ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2004

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This easy reader for children reading at the fluency level recounts the story of a girl named Mary Ann Anning and her dog, Tray. They lived on the coast of England in the early 1800s, although the time frame is given only as “a long, long time ago.” Mary Ann and Tray became famous for their discoveries of fossils, including dinosaur bones. They discovered the first pterodactyl found in England, and the name was assigned to their fossil. The story focuses a little too much on the dog, and the title misses a great opportunity to completely acknowledge a girl accomplishing something important in the scientific world, especially in a much earlier era and without formal training or education. Despite this drawback, both Mary Ann and Tray are appealing characters and the discovery of the fossils and subsequent notice from scientists, collectors, and even royalty is appealing and well written. Sullivan’s illustrations provide intriguing period details in costumes, tools, and buildings, as well as a clever front endpaper of fossil-strewn ground covered with muddy paw prints. (Easy reader. 6-8)

Pub Date: July 1, 2004

ISBN: 0-689-85708-X

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Aladdin

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2004

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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PROFESSOR ASTRO CAT'S SPACE ROCKETS

From the Professor Astro Cat series

by Dominic Walliman ; illustrated by Ben Newman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 4, 2018

Energetic enough to carry younger rocketeers off the launch pad if not into a very high orbit.

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The bubble-helmeted feline explains what rockets do and the role they have played in sending people (and animals) into space.

Addressing a somewhat younger audience than in previous outings (Professor Astro Cat’s Frontiers of Space, 2013, etc.), Astro Cat dispenses with all but a light shower of “factoroids” to describe how rockets work. A highly selective “History of Space Travel” follows—beginning with a crew of fruit flies sent aloft in 1947, later the dog Laika (her dismal fate left unmentioned), and the human Yuri Gagarin. Then it’s on to Apollo 11 in 1969; the space shuttles Discovery, Columbia, and Challenger (the fates of the latter two likewise elided); the promise of NASA’s next-gen Orion and the Space Launch System; and finally vague closing references to other rockets in the works for local tourism and, eventually, interstellar travel. In the illustrations the spacesuited professor, joined by a mouse and cat in similar dress, do little except float in space and point at things. Still, the art has a stylish retro look, and portraits of Sally Ride and Guion Bluford diversify an otherwise all-white, all-male astronaut corps posing heroically or riding blocky, geometric spacecraft across starry reaches.

Energetic enough to carry younger rocketeers off the launch pad if not into a very high orbit. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 6-8)