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SOME BOATS HAVE WINGS

Name: SOME BOATS HAVE WINGS
Author: Clare Oliver
ISBN: 0-7613-0736-2

AND OTHER AMAZING FACTS ABOUT SHIPS AND SUBMARINES

by Clare Oliver & illustrated by Ross Watton & Jo Moore ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1998

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This intriguing compendium of facts in the I Didn’t Know That series encompasses the earliest paper boats of the Egyptians to modern day plastic-hulled Minesweepers. True to series format, each spread, beginning with the phrase “I didn’t know that,” focuses on a specific era. Included throughout the book are the feature icons (search-and-find activities, true/false queries, etc.) to test readers’ knowledge. The design doesn’t intrude here (see review, above), perhaps because the topic is more immediately familiar to children. Watton and Moore’s detailed illustrations are realistically rendered; the full-color panoramas, overlaid with many smaller pictures, invite in-depth perusals. (maps, diagrams, index, glossary) (Nonfiction. 6-8)

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1998

ISBN: 0-7613-0736-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Copper Beech/Millbrook

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1998

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
MOUNTAINS GUSH LAVA AND ASH
by Clare Oliver & illustrated by Ian Thompson

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PICNIC AT MUDSOCK MEADOW

by Patricia Polacco & illustrated by Patricia Polacco ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 16, 1992

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Polacco returns to the small-town scene of Meteor! (1987) for an affectionate, if stylized, boy-girl story. "Peeeeee youuuuuuu," says Heater before the annual Halloween picnic, and William turns "as red as a Union City farm-fresh tomato." Later, she sneers at his carved pumpkin, tansies his line at the fishing booth, and makes him swallow his seed at the seed-spitting contest. As usual, the author presents a multi-age, multiracial cast tumbling loose jointedly across the pages, with vibrant faces atop colorfully patterned clothing. When swamp gas glows eerily down in Quicksand Bottoms, William bravely rushes out to prove it's not a ghost, falls in the mud, and wins first prize as a swamp monster in the dress-up competition. "My hero," coos Heater, sharing a "plate-o-cream." Proof that Polacco can work her magic on even the most hackneyed plot. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 16, 1992

ISBN: 0-399-21811-4

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1992

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
A SEA OF GOLD
by Patricia Polacco ; illustrated by Patricia Polacco

- BOOK REVIEW
PALACE OF BOOKS
by Patricia Polacco ; illustrated by Patricia Polacco

- BOOK REVIEW
GO ASK OZZIE
by Patricia Polacco ; illustrated by Patricia Polacco

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LEONORA O'GRADY

by Leah Komaiko & illustrated by Laura Cornell ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 30, 1992

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A nonsense rhyme celebrates a joyous older neighbor. Every morning, Leonora steps outside to water bulging bags of ``Popcorn from Paraguay/Snakeskins from Spain/A buffalo's toothbrush/A tube full of rain'' and other found materials; at night she dances in the city park across the street (``She's the moon shadow's daughter/The old statue's wife./And together they tango...'') until—on some summer nights—she falls asleep on a park bench. In Cornell's exuberant art, energetic dots and dashes define tumbled shapes in splashes of color as, trailed by the admiring young narrator, gray-haired Leonora grins cheerfully at the world and pushes a shopping cart exploding with tangles of bric-a-brac. A childlike tribute with no hint of the darker side connoted by Leonora's free-spiritedness. (Picture book. 6-8)