The book of choice for middle-grade readers embarking on the topic, this fills the gap between Peter Spier's illustrated song- text (The Erie Canal, Doubleday, 1970) and the factual detail of R. Conrad Stein's The Story of the Erie Canal (Childrens, 1985). The pages work hard. One spread encompasses a map of the canal chronicling its construction; four portraits; captioned vignettes of Niagara Falls, stairstep locks, a huge stump-pulling machine, and an aqueduct; a four-part drawing of the locks; a cross-section of the canal with towpath and bridge; and two paragraphs of the main text. Harness (Young John Quincy, 1994, etc.) is so skilled that no page appears cluttered or confusing, and with much of the information presented visually, the conception and construction of the canal are covered in eight pages. The remainder of the book is devoted to the triumphant ten-day parade of boats from Buffalo to New York City that marked the canal's completion in 1825. Intensely colored watercolor, gouache, and pencil illustrations show the canal day and night, in town and country, from vantage points high and low; more maps, diagrams, and vignettes are worked into the corners of these densely packed pages, in the author's most notable, accessible work thus far. (bibliography, music) (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-10)
Pub Date: April 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-02-742641-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1995
To commemorate well-documented old sightings of huge sea serpents gamboling off the New England coast, Ibatoulline paints richly detailed scenes of wide seas and narrow shores, of small boats, monstrous writhing coils and astonished onlookers—to which Anderson pairs an old man’s reminiscence in verse: “The serpent was twirling, just chasing its tail, / And showed all intention of staying. / ‘Is it back in the deep?’ ‘Is it eating our sheep?’ / ‘I think,’ I said, ‘that the serpent is playing.’ ” Young monster lovers will share the wonder of this never-solved mystery, and applaud when a company of sea-hunter’s strenuous efforts to kill the monster yield only a large mackerel. A 19th-century tale presented in grand, 19th-century style. (afterword) (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: June 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-7636-2038-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2005
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Floca (The Frightful Story of Harry Walfish, 1997, etc.) offers a great explication of the small trucks that airline passengers see scurrying around jets on the runways. In brightly painted illustrations and simple descriptions, he introduces each vehicle, explains what it does, and shows it in action, e.g., the truck called the baggage conveyor is shown hoisting suitcases into the belly of the plane. All five trucks’ duties point to a big finale when the plane takes off. Given preschoolers’ well-documented fascination with heavy machinery, this book will strike a chord with young air travelers, and answer the questions of older travelers as well. (Picture book. 6-10)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7894-2561-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1999
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