Using clunky declarative sentences, Guillot tries to convey a sense of life in modern China, mediated through its history, with this story of a young girl, Li, and her encounter with a pre-Mao ghost. Although Li’s mother works in a gongchang, she also makes lifu on the side for a little extra kuai (Guillot exasperatingly shovels these words into the text; the meanings are not always clear from the context, and whistling back and forth between the text and glossary shatters the flow of the story). Li is asked to take a special lifu (formal dress) to a client in Shanghai. While on the way by bike, Li daydreams her way into a crash with another cyclist. Lying, near death, on the roadway, Li is visited by her ghost, who saves her so she may deliver a message to his family. It transpires that the ghost was a union man in 1920s Shanghai who was rubbed out by gangsters who worked for the dockyard owners. Thus elements of Chinese history (fleshed out in an author’s note) are laced into the story, as are ethics, such as the justice Li brings to the ghost’s family by delivering the message, and the virtue and propriety of her act. The story has promise, not least for its fine artwork that provides a glimpse into daily life, but the delivery is so stilted, its effectiveness is cut by half. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8109-4129-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1999
Lunge-Larsen and Preus debut with this story of a flower that blooms for the first time to commemorate the uncommon courage of a girl who saves her people from illness. The girl, an Ojibwe of the northern woodlands, knows she must journey to the next village to get the healing herb, mash-ki- ki, for her people, who have all fallen ill. After lining her moccasins with rabbit fur, she braves a raging snowstorm and crosses a dark frozen lake to reach the village. Then, rather than wait for morning, she sets out for home while the villagers sleep. When she loses her moccasins in the deep snow, her bare feet are cut by icy shards, and bleed with every step until she reaches her home. The next spring beautiful lady slippers bloom from the place where her moccasins were lost, and from every spot her injured feet touched. Drawing on Ojibwe sources, the authors of this fluid retelling have peppered the tale with native words and have used traditional elements, e.g., giving voice to the forces of nature. The accompanying watercolors, with flowing lines, jewel tones, and decorative motifs, give stately credence to the story’s iconic aspects. (Picture book/folklore. 4-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-90512-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1999
This vibrant, thoughtful book from Katz (Over the Moon, 1997) continues her tribute to her adopted daughter, Lena, born in Guatemala. Lena is “seven. I am the color of cinnamon. Mom says she could eat me up”; she learns during a painting lesson that to get the color brown, she will have to “mix red, yellow, black, and white paints.” They go for a walk to observe the many shades of brown: they see Sonia, who is the color of creamy peanut butter; Isabella, who is chocolate brown; Lucy, both peachy and tan; Jo-Jin, the color of honey; Kyle, “like leaves in fall”; Mr. Pellegrino, the color of pizza crust, golden brown. Lena realizes that every shade is beautiful, then mixes her paints accordingly for portraits of her friends—“The colors of us!” Bold illustrations celebrate diversity with a child’s open-hearted sensibility and a mother’s love. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8050-5864-8
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1999
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