A sensitive exploration of an untidy, meaningful existence.
A portrait of a man whose life comprised a love of nature and poetry.
William Stanley Merwin (1927-2019) grew up in a town where everything was “straightened out” by the boundaries of homes and roads. Even as a boy, he yearned for wilderness and was fortunate to spend summers vacationing in a cabin in the woods. Merwin also enjoyed composing poems; he found that “writing poetry was like visiting a wild place…[with] language growing wherever it pleased.” Fountain omits the years Merwin spent with his first two wives in Spain and London and fast-forwards to Hawaii. There, instead of the wild land he sought, he purchased a “wounded” space, “stripped of all its rich, dark soil.” He lived in a sustainable home with his third wife and started growing palm trees, eventually planting almost 3,000, including endangered varieties sent from around the world. Fountain leans toward longer sentences, layering ideas with metaphors to effectively convey Merwin’s hope and curiosity. The digital illustrations are reminiscent of Aaron Douglas paintings; many of the compositions contain purple and green silhouettes of people and overlapping branches with varying degrees of saturation to create a sense of depth. Darker, leafy branches border many of the compositions. The White poet/gardener stayed involved with both passions, ultimately donating his land to a conservancy and becoming the United States Poet Laureate. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A sensitive exploration of an untidy, meaningful existence. (author’s note, poem) (Picture book/biography. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1126-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
An effectively presented and surprising slice of Benjamin Franklin’s childhood.
While Josiah Franklin seeks the right trade for his son, young Benjamin follows other pursuits.
Growing up in Colonial Boston, Benjamin loves reading and swimming. Eschewing his father’s candle making trade, Benjamin longs to be a sailor, but Josiah refuses. Worried his son’s becoming an “aimless woolgatherer,” Josiah unsuccessfully apprentices him to a joiner, a shoemaker, and a turner. Benjamin prefers swimming in Mill Pond, where he experiments with wooden paddles as flippers and a kite, using wind to pull himself through the water. Eventually, Josiah realizes Benjamin’s a boy of many trades and indentures him in a print shop, where he can “read and study and write” to his heart’s content. Expanding several incidents from Franklin’s Memoirs, this story reveals Franklin as a likable boy whose eclectic childhood interests led to his amazing life. Realistic, carefully executed watercolor-and-pencil illustrations in browns, grays, blues, and yellows effectively use light and varied perspectives to add drama to this formative period in Franklin’s life. Scenes of Benjamin sampling tedious trades alternate with upbeat scenes of him swimming, playing to the story’s theme. Text panels from antique books surrounded by Colonial-era nautical maps reflect Franklin’s interest in books and the sea, reinforcing the authentic period setting. The focus is on Benjamin and his close circle, all white.
An effectively presented and surprising slice of Benjamin Franklin’s childhood. (author’s note, illustrator’s note, bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 5-8)Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0121-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
An absorbing account of a real-life adventure in a series that showcases historical accomplishments of women.
Rose explores the true story of a race between two accomplished 19th-century women in this children’s book featuring illustrations by Bye.
In 1889, famed reporter Nellie Bly believed that she could circle the globe faster than anyone had before—in less than the 80 days of Jules Verne’s fictional hero. She pitched the story to her boss at the New York World, who, after initial protests, approved her journey. As Bly left New York City, heading east, Cosmopolitan writer Elizabeth Bisland was sent off to the west, with little notice, to race Bly back to the city. In this entry in the She Makes History series, Rose reports the travels of both women in tandem, showing the eastward movement of Bly and the westward travel of Bisland as the reporters encountered successes and setbacks. Rose’s text and Bye’s cartoon-style color images, which accurately and vividly depict the era in detail, allow young readers to get a deeper sense of what living in the late 1800s was like and how travel, by various methods, was very different than it is in the modern day. The extensive text never overwhelms the illustrations, though, and Bye depicts the players in action-oriented poses that propel the story forward. One particularly elegant two-page spread shows the two travelers’ ships literally passing in the night. Rose captures both the wonder of the world as the women experience it as well as the dangers and miseries of their journeys. Her straightforward vocabulary and accessible narration will let young readers immerse themselves in the history. Endnotes offer greater context for the role of women reporters of the era, highlighting the main characters’ tremendous achievements.
An absorbing account of a real-life adventure in a series that showcases historical accomplishments of women. (Informational picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-8075-0010-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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PERSPECTIVES
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