A smart salute to MWD that deserves a wide readership beyond dog lovers and military buffs.
As we come to appreciate more and more the emotional and sentient lives of animals, take a moment to consider the military working dog.
As readers will learn in this admirable introduction to the military’s K-9 corps, they thrive and suffer as much as the women and men who serve. The book starts with a guided tour of the training work and why some breeds have a natural aptitude for the work. It goes on to provide specific vignettes on dogs at war—with vest-pocket biographies of some better-known champs: Nemo, Chips, Sgt. Stubby—while accompanied by numerous photos. Boxed features break up the text and focus closely on various aspects of MWD work (dogs working near helicopters wear goggles to protect their eyes, for instance) as well as debunking myths (dogs bite to kill, dogs go home with handlers each night, dogs are euthanized once their usefulness is over). Hovering over the story are the extreme dangers that the dogs encounter—not because their lives are less worthy, but because they know what they are doing. It comes down to the senses, as Goldsmith explains how the dogs’ noses work (sniffing out improvised explosive devices and alerting soldiers to incoming poisonous gas) and how their hearing helps soldiers avoid ambushes. Kennel masters and handlers contribute first-person accounts.
A smart salute to MWD that deserves a wide readership beyond dog lovers and military buffs. (Nonfiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5124-1012-9
Page Count: 104
Publisher: Twenty-First Century/Lerner
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2016
Thorough to a fault, and for young readers at least, no replacement for Jim Murphy’s oldie but goodie The Long Road to...
Wagonloads of detail weigh down this overstuffed account of the Civil War’s most significant battle and its aftermath.
Martin builds his narrative around numerous eyewitness accounts, despite the implication of the subtitle. He covers events from the rival armies’ preliminary jockeying for position to Lee’s retreat, the heroic efforts to care for the thousands of wounded soldiers left behind, as well as the establishment some months later of the cemetery that was the occasion for Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. The battle itself, though, quickly becomes a dizzying tally of this regiment going here, that brigade charging there, the movements insufficiently supported by the small, hard-to-read battle maps. Overheated lines like “As the armies met in battle, the ground…soaked up the blood of Americans flowing into the soil” have a melodramatic effect. Moreover, as nearly everyone mentioned even once gets one or more period portraits, the illustrations become a tedious gallery of look-alike shots of scowling men with heavy facial hair. Still, the author does offer a cogent, carefully researched view of the battle and its significance in both the short and long terms.
Thorough to a fault, and for young readers at least, no replacement for Jim Murphy’s oldie but goodie The Long Road to Gettysburg (1992). (glossary, index, bibliography) (Nonfiction. 12-15)Pub Date: June 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-62087-532-2
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
A poignant glimpse into an artist in the making.
Internationally acclaimed illustrator McMullan (I’m Fast, 2012), best known for Lincoln Center Theater posters and picture books with his wife, reflects on his childhood in China and wartime journeys in search of home.
Young McMullan, a nervous boy and grandson of missionaries, is born in Cheefoo, China, in 1934. He enjoys a comfortable lifestyle due to the family businesses, including an orphanage and embroidery exports. Soon, World War II dawns, and the Japanese army invades the town, causing the boy and his parents to flee to Shanghai. There, his father joins the British army, while he and his mother set sail for America. In two-page spreads, prose on the left opposite illustrations on the right, memories are recalled with vivid clarity and a quiet strength. The author’s subdued but elegant drawings set the most reverent tones. Tender scenes, such as the author playing next to a rectangle of sunlight while his father bends over the piano or his fascinated examination of brush strokes on Chinese scrolls, illustrate how little moments really do have the greatest impact. Painful and terrifying recollections take shape, as well: his failure to become a “strong little fellow” in his father’s eyes, a bomb scare aboard a passenger freighter or his ineptitude at boxing. These experiences, both extraordinary and ordinary, intertwine to create a memoir that resonates. (Finished, full-color art not seen.)
A poignant glimpse into an artist in the making. (Memoir. 12-16)Pub Date: March 11, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61620-255-2
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Algonquin
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
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