by David Almond ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 10, 2001
Almond’s fans will willingly follow him on yet another journey into a surreal, murky world that may be dream or reality. Three orphans, labeled "damaged children" by their well-meaning custodian, seek freedom by sailing down the river on a raft fashioned emblematically from three doors. When they run aground in the silt of Black Middens, a mysterious, web-fingered child, Heaven Eyes, and the threatening man she calls Grampa rescue them. Grampa and Heaven Eyes live a reclusive life in the rubble of an abandoned print works. Almond sets this scene well: "The walls and ceilings creaked and groaned. Dust seethed all around . . . Shadows shifted . . . Dangling doors led into pitch-black rooms . . ." Grampa enigmatically keeps a secret journal, patrols against "ghosts," and digs in the river mud for treasure and Saints. In one of his quests, years earlier, Grampa pulled the tiny Heaven Eyes from the mud and has raised and protected her in isolation. Heaven Eyes, who speaks a distinct, beautiful, childlike dialect has the ability to "see through all the darkness in the world to the joy that lies beneath." Mysteries abound: who is Grampa? what are the ghosts? who is the "Saint"? and what is Heaven Eye's backstory? Almond chooses to answer only some. The story teems with symbols: darkness and light, angels and wings, birth and death, and the river that flows throughout. The circular journey works well as the three orphans with Heaven Eyes return to Whitegates Children's Home, changed and with greater self-knowledge. Some may quibble with a conclusion, in which one orphan's mother makes a dramatic reappearance, but Almond is essentially an idealist and readers will be satisfied. Not as elaborately layered as Kit's Wilderness (2000), the winner of the 2001 Printz Award, but brilliant in its technical control of setting, theme, and plot. (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: April 10, 2001
ISBN: 0-385-32770-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2001
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by Joan Sweeney ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1999
PLB 0-517-70967-8 Me And My Family Tree (32 pp.; $13.00; PLB $14.99; May; 0-517-70966-X; PLB 0-517-70967-8): For children who are naturally curious about the people who care for them (most make inquiries into family relationships at an early age), Sweeney explains, with the assistance of a young narrator, the concept of a family tree. Photographs become understandable once the young girl learns the relationships among family members; she wonders what her own family tree will look like when she marries and has children. A larger message comes at the end of this story: not only does she have a family tree, but so does everyone in the world. Cable’s drawings clearly define the process of creating a family tree; she provides a blank tree so children can start on their own geneaology.(Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-517-70966-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1999
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illustrated by Rachel Fuller ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 2010
One of a four-book series designed to help the very young prepare for new siblings, this title presents a toddler-and-mother pair (the latter heavily pregnant) as they read about new babies, sort hand-me-downs, buy new toys, visit the obstetrician and the sonographer, speculate and wait. Throughout, the child asks questions and makes exclamations with complete enthusiasm: “How big is the baby? What does it eat? I felt it move! Is it a boy or girl?” Fuller’s jolly pictures present a biracial family that thoroughly enjoys every moment together. It’s a bit oversimplified, but no one can complain about the positive message it conveys, appropriately, to its baby and toddler audience. The other titles in the New Baby series are My New Baby (ISBN: 978-1-84643-276-7), Look at Me! (ISBN: 978-1-84643-278-1) and You and Me (ISBN: 978-1-84643-277-4). (Board book. 18 mos.-3)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-84643-275-0
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Child's Play
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2010
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by Rachel Fuller ; illustrated by Rachel Fuller ; translated by Teresa Mlawer
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