by Celia Sandys ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 2, 1995
In a narrative based primarily on the personal correspondence of the youthful Winston Churchill, his family, and other contemporaries, interspersed with the mature Churchill's poignant reminiscences, his granddaughter provides a rare and moving look at the formative years of Britain's great wartime leader. The son of a preeminent MP and an American socialite, Winston was born at Blenheim Palace, his ancestral home. A shy, lonely boy with a speech impediment and delicate health who barely knew his famous father, Churchill spent his early years mostly in the company of his beloved nurse, Mrs. Everest (``It was to her I poured out all my many troubles''), and younger brother, Jack. When he was not yet eight, he was banished from this comfortable environment to boarding school at St. George's, where birch- wielding despots bestowed the refinements of a classical education on their charges. Sandys presents the boy's affecting letters home to his mother from this period in full childish scrawl, along with his report cards, drawings, and reminiscences from other schoolboys. Churchill was later transferred to a school in Brighton, where the propitious climate and the relative kindliness of the teachers did not result either in better academic performance or in improved health. Sandys show that, despite precocity in certain subjects, Churchill was a mediocre student and deeply unhappy youth who suffered from what in modern terms can only be viewed as parental neglect. After several failed attempts, he achieved entry into Sandhurst, the British military academy, as a cavalry officer. His father's premature death, which occurred as he graduated creditably from Sandhurst (Churchill had at last found his niche in the Army), deprived him of his dream of entering Parliament at his father's side but filled him with a determination to pursue his father's political aims and, more importantly, to make his own mark on life. Inspiring and engrossing. (color and b&w photos)
Pub Date: Oct. 2, 1995
ISBN: 0-525-94048-0
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1995
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by Celia Sandys
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by Celia Sandys
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis
by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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developed by Ludwig Bemelmans ; illustrated by Steven Salerno
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by Ludwig Bemelmans ; illustrated by Steven Salerno
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