Plainly modeled on Hound of the Baskervilles, this new Tom Marlowe Adventure takes the young sleuth-in-training and his capable mentor Dr. Harker out to the tidal bogs of 18th-century East Anglia, where a wealthy friend of the Doctor’s has been rummaging around in an ancient barrow said to be protected by a supernatural guardian. Conveniently enough, the crime-solving pair arrives just after the first of two murders. Priestly folds in plenty of atmosphere, in the form of nightmares, mysterious voices and sightings, gales, heavy fogs, scratched messages on walls and vicious animal attacks—along with a gallery of suspects from smugglers to an eccentric local lord. He wastes it all, however, by having the unremorseful surprise culprit suddenly confess publicly, then fall off her horse and die. A fizzle, compared to the previous episode, Death and the Arrow (2003). (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2005
ISBN: 0-385-60695-8
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Doubleday UK/Trafalgar
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2005
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PLB 0-688-16204-5 When young Constance accidentally lets the cabin’s fire die out, her father composes a riddle to cheer her up, spawning a riddle marathon as the entire family participates in creating conundrums. Karim devises clever puzzles that reveal the origins of items that would be commonplace for a pioneer, e.g. before it was a basket, it was “saplings that leaned in the wind.” The riddles cover everything from the johnnycakes to Constance’s cornhusk doll. An addendum, “The Life of a Pioneer Family,” provides further information about the objects in the riddles, such as how a log cabin was constructed and why Constance and her father would have gone to their neighbor’s to revive their spent fire. Andersen’s oil paintings depict carefully researched, authentic scenes from pioneer life and capture the strong, loving family bonds that resonate in the text. The sparkling tale is fun to read and illuminating, and will round out any lesson on early settlers. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-688-16203-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This tour through time of varied eating tools is both fun and fascinating. Starting with the Stone Age, which took finger food to extremes until rudimentary knives were born, Lauber (Painters of the Caves, 1998, etc.) travels through the metallic ages (copper, bronze, iron), Middle Ages, Renaissance, and modern times, laying out the evolution of knife, fork, and spoon, the introduction of chopsticks, and the refinement of eating with the fingers. She explains—always with an infusion of humor—the origins and changes in etiquette, and the design tinkerings in flatware (including Louis XIV’s stipulation that knives be made with rounded ends to cut down on the number of stabbings at the table). Manders’s madcap artwork belies a rigorous and elegant technique of underpainting, dyes and washes; he gives a comic touch to such important historical moments as when it was proper to eat peas with the knife. (bibliography) (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-11)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-689-80479-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
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