It's hard to imagine an artist better qualified to explore the maze of pipes, piles, and tunnels that lies Underground beneath a big city, and if this recreation lacks the utopian clarity of Macaulay's imaginary Cathedral (1973) and City (1974), there are compensating flashes of humor and playful solutions to the problem of illustrating what can't be seen. Explanations of the four major kinds of foundations for large buildings, the layout of sewer systems and underground cables, and the building of a subway tunnel require a more substantial and more challenging text than previous volumes, but the visual experience can stand by itself. In addition to the predictable surface views, diagrams and cutaway cross sections, Macaulay strips away pavement and soil to show us how the superstructure of a city street would look if we could stand on bedrock, below. The perspective is mind boggling, and though we've seen parts of the picture elsewhere—in Kelly and Park's Tunnel Builders (p. 328, J-108), for example—Macaulay gives us a breathtaking and entirely original insight.
Pub Date: Sept. 29, 1976
ISBN: 0395340659
Page Count: 116
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1976
A festive invitation to creative liberation.
A pleasingly tactile exploration of the possibilities inherent in mistakes.
"A torn piece of paper... / is just the beginning!" Spills, folded paper, drips of paint, smudges and smears—they "all can make magic appear." An increasingly complex series of scenarios celebrates random accidents, encouraging artistic experimentation rather than discouragement. The folded-over paper can be a penguin's head; a torn piece of newsprint can turn into a smiling dog with a little application of paint; a hot-chocolate stain can become a bog for a frog. Thanks to a telescoping pop-up, a hole is filled with nearly limitless possibilities. The interactive elements work beautifully with the photo-collaged "mistakes," never overwhelming the intent with showiness. Saltzberg's trademark cartoon animals provide a sweetly childlike counterpoint to the artful scribbles and smears of gloppy paint.
A festive invitation to creative liberation. (Pop-up. 4-12)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-7611-5728-1
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2010
Paulsen recalls personal experiences that he incorporated into Hatchet (1987) and its three sequels, from savage attacks by moose and mosquitoes to watching helplessly as a heart-attack victim dies. As usual, his real adventures are every bit as vivid and hair-raising as those in his fiction, and he relates them with relish—discoursing on “The Fine Art of Wilderness Nutrition,” for instance: “Something that you would never consider eating, something completely repulsive and ugly and disgusting, something so gross it would make you vomit just looking at it, becomes absolutely delicious if you’re starving.” Specific examples follow, to prove that he knows whereof he writes. The author adds incidents from his Iditarod races, describes how he made, then learned to hunt with, bow and arrow, then closes with methods of cooking outdoors sans pots or pans. It’s a patchwork, but an entertaining one, and as likely to win him new fans as to answer questions from his old ones. (Autobiography. 10-13)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-385-32650-5
Page Count: 150
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2000
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