A taste of wilderness of yore to whet the appetites of future fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Louise Erdrich and Kirkpatrick...
“When I was nine years old, I lived one winter on Fox Island, with my father, an old trapper named Olson, six blue fox, a family of angora goats, and Squirlie. This is what happened.”
So begins an imaginary memoir, based on the records of Rockwell Kent III and his artist father. Artwork reminiscent of Mary Azarian’s graces pages that begin with the son noting that his father wanted to go to Alaska to paint. “We pleaded with Mother until she said yes. Squirlie came too.” In September 1918, father, son and toy squirrel travel by train, steamship and rowboat to get to the remote island, where they renovate an old shed. Now the outdoor adventures begin. Three well-calculated pairs of suspenseful rectos followed by a harmless, concluding page turn keep readers riveted while meting out facts. As the boy heads down a trail, he hears noises that he knows could be a grizzly bear. The page turn reveals a beautiful black-inked portrait of a porcupine. The woodcuts capture the joys of playing in the snow, the warmth of stories by lamplight, occasional loneliness and the hazards of a storm at sea. Readers may be forgiven for thinking that Rocky is a girl before they reach the author’s note, as he looks androgynous in the illustrations.
A taste of wilderness of yore to whet the appetites of future fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Louise Erdrich and Kirkpatrick Hill. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 3, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-57061-950-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little Bigfoot/Sasquatch
Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2015
Not much for school-report fodder, but in the annals of American invention, Otis definitely rates the attention this profile...
A buoyant if free-wheeling tribute to Otis—inventor not of elevators themselves, but of a safety brake that eased public fears of riding in them.
Intent on telling a colorful tale rather than a systematic one, Kulling injects more anachronisms (of an early inspiration, circa 1845: “Betsy could almost see the lightbulb over her husband’s head”) and invented dialogue into her account than dates or other specific details. She follows her subject from delightedly watching a hoist drop a load of hay during his Vermont childhood to a dramatically staged demonstration of his safety brake at New York’s 1854 World’s Fair. This is sandwiched between a poem on “Elevator Etiquette” and a quick closing wrap-up that serves in place of any source notes or other backmatter. In his realistic, fine-lined illustrations, Parkins both enhances the sense of period and supplies the only hints of how Otis’ invention actually worked. He captures the narrative’s broad, high-energy tone in images of the inventor with eyes bulging, mouth wide open and arms flung out wildly during various Eureka! moments.
Not much for school-report fodder, but in the annals of American invention, Otis definitely rates the attention this profile (the first separate one for young readers since the 1970s) brings him. (Picture books/biography. 6-8)Pub Date: Oct. 9, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-77049-240-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2012
Curiously uninvolving, but it may get children to thinking about stuff and maybe inventing some gizmos of their own.
Early humans about 3 million years ago had “no things,” and Layton wants to show us how they—we—got them.
The artistic style is squiggly and agitated, with occasional collage photos and other overlays. Pictures run in double-page spreads punctuated by tiny identifiers (“No Plates to eat off”), foldouts and larger pop-ups. The left-hand, lower corner of each spread gives a time frame (“12,000-4,000 YEARS AGO”) as readers and humanity move from pointy stones as tools to fire to civilizations, freely dispensing gags along the way. Did the ancient Greeks really invent the hula hoop? “Wheels are wheely useful!” Noting the invention of champagne by Dom Perignon is a nice touch for adult readers. “Ye Book of ye Middle Ages” centers on Europe of course, with a nod toward China for the invention of gunpowder. Perhaps the most amusing paper-engineering effect is the steam engine, which makes a chugga-chugga sound while smoke billows and three bearded guys bounce around behind. At the end, bigger and faster engines give way to smaller and faster microchips. There are several images of this title in various places within the text—very meta indeed—but no references and a lot of generalities. One might say that there is little gender or ethnic mix, but the figures are so abstract or cartoony that it may not matter. There isn’t a lot of matter here, period.
Curiously uninvolving, but it may get children to thinking about stuff and maybe inventing some gizmos of their own. (Pop-up/nonfiction. 5-7)Pub Date: June 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-340-94532-2
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Trafalgar Square
Review Posted Online: Oct. 9, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
