A whimsical reimagining of an obscure historical event.
Eggers lightly fictionalizes a little-known true story of moving house (quite literally).
“Like all of the best stories, this takes place in Idaho.” Sometime in the 1870s, a prospector’s dog located evidence of silver, and soon the Minnie Moore Mine was born. Not long after, the mine was sold to Henry Miller, making it Miller’s Minnie Moore Mine. After marrying and building a gigantic house (the Millers’ Minnie Moore Mine Mansion), Mr. Miller died. His widow, left with her son and the house and conned out of most of her money by a “crooked banker,” purchased pigs to raise and sell, but the folks in town had ordinances about that. Rather than leave her house behind, Mrs. Miller concocted a wild scheme (that actually worked) to move the house out of town. Readers with a low excrement tolerance may wish to steer clear, as Sardà takes a naughty pride in seeing how many bowel movements she can work into the earth-toned piggy spreads. Eggers, meanwhile, delights in language, pulling a very natural humor out of an already silly tale. Though the tale is set in 19th-century Idaho, mention is not made of displaced Indigenous populations, and the entire cast presents as White. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A whimsical reimagining of an obscure historical event. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 6, 2023
ISBN: 9781536215885
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
A brief but sweet snapshot of an inspiring girl who finds hope in song.
Through the power of music, Lucimarian Tolliver is reminded of what’s important.
Lucy is one of the only children of African descent on her block—called Lucy Street—in 1930s Akron, Ohio, but all her neighbors share one commonality: poverty. Lucy’s carefree spirit is dampened when her family’s furniture is repossessed one day. She visits her grandfather, who comforts her by singing the folk standard “This Little Light of Mine.” Grandpa tells Lucy that she’s destined for greatness and that she should never stop singing, even through life’s toughest moments. Back at home, Lucy’s father scolds her for singing at the dinner table, so she quickly finishes eating and wanders outside and sings into the night. Her voice reaches her family and neighbors, who are all touched by her song. Digital illustrations evoke the time period in muted tones, featuring endearing characters with simple yet expressive features. The visual subject matter is repetitive from page to page, as are the incorporated lyrics of “This Little Light of Mine.” Based on Lucimarian Tolliver’s experiences growing up during the Depression, the text contains an epilogue but lacks backmatter detailing historical context or more information about Lucy’s life. Though the themes of optimism and the importance of family, faith, and music shine through the text, readers may be left with more questions than answers.
A brief but sweet snapshot of an inspiring girl who finds hope in song. (Picture-book biography. 5-7)Pub Date: May 20, 2025
ISBN: 9780063222540
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
A common topic ably presented—with a participatory element adding an unusual and brilliant angle.
To the tune of a familiar ditty, budding paleontologists can march, dig, and sift with a crew of dinosaur hunters.
Modeling her narrative after “Here We Go ’Round the Mulberry Bush,” Lendroth (Old Manhattan Has Some Farms, 2014, etc.) invites readers to add appropriate actions and gestures as they follow four scientists—modeled by Kolar as doll-like figures of varied gender and racial presentation, with oversized heads to show off their broad smiles—on a dig. “This is the way we clean the bones, clean the bones, clean the bones. / This is the way we clean the bones on a warm and sunny morning.” The smiling paleontologists find, then carefully excavate, transport, and reassemble the fossil bones of a T. rex into a museum display. A fleshed-out view of the toothy specimen on a wordless spread brings the enterprise to a suitably dramatic climax, and unobtrusive notes in the lower corners capped by a closing overview add digestible quantities of dino-detail and context. As in Jessie Hartland’s How the Dinosaur Got to the Museum (2011), the combination of patterned text and bright cartoon pictures of scientists at accurately portrayed work offers just the ticket to spark or feed an early interest in matters prehistoric.
A common topic ably presented—with a participatory element adding an unusual and brilliant angle. (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-62354-104-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
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