Abe Lincoln’s childhood friend Austin Gollaher changed the course of history when he rescued the future president from a swollen Kentucky creek in 1816. That true story is the jumping-off point for this lively exploration of the more slippery aspects of history writing: “For that’s the thing about history—if you weren’t there, you can’t know for sure,” says the folksy first-person narrator. To that end, Hopkinson and Hendrix, in wonderful watercolor and pen-and-ink illustrations, explore alternate versions of what might have happened that fateful day. Abe was walking across a tree bridge… but, no! Wouldn’t he have crawled? The author-as-narrator imagines the reader’s responses (“What’s that you’re saying?”), describes the story-in-progress (“Wait, I’m trying to remember what happens next”) and invokes the illustrator, too (“John, could you please stop painting that noisy water?”). While all the sound effects and story interruptions, especially mid-stream, might be effective in a read-aloud session, they could otherwise become frustrating. It may not keep kids out of creeks, but this plucky Kentucky romp may well spawn a future historian or two. (author’s note) (Informational picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-375-83768-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2008
A life devoted to freedom and dignity, worthy of praise and remembrance.
With the words of Massachusetts colonial rebels ringing in her ears, a slave determines to win her freedom.
In 1780, Mumbet heard the words of the new Massachusetts constitution, including its declaration of freedom and equality. With the help of a young lawyer, she went to court and the following year, won her freedom, becoming Elizabeth Freeman. Slavery was declared illegal and subsequently outlawed in the state. Woelfle writes with fervor as she describes Mumbet’s life in the household of John Ashley, a rich landowner and businessman who hosted protest meetings against British taxation. His wife was abrasive and abusive, striking out with a coal shovel at a young girl, possibly Mumbet’s daughter. Mumbet deflected the blow and regarded the wound as “her badge of bravery.” Ironically, the lawyer who took her case, Theodore Sedgwick, had attended John Ashley’s meetings. Delinois’ full-bleed paintings are heroic in scale, richly textured and vibrant. Typography becomes part of the page design as the font increases when the text mentions freedom. Another slave in the Ashley household was named in the court case, but Woelfle, keeping her young audience in mind, keeps it simple, wisely focusing on Mumbet.
A life devoted to freedom and dignity, worthy of praise and remembrance. (author’s note, selected bibliography, further reading) (Picture book/biography. 5-8)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7613-6589-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Review Posted Online: Oct. 8, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This reimagined telling has an engaging charm that rings true.
An imagining of an unlikely real-life episode in the life of absurdist Franz Kafka.
Theule follows the outline of the account: When Kafka meets an unhappy girl in a Berlin park in 1923 and learns her doll is lost, Kafka writes a series of letters from Soupsy, the doll, to Irma, the girl. The real letters and the girl’s identity have been lost to history; the invented letters describe a dazzling variety of adventures for Soupsy. Unfortunately, as the letters increase in excitement, Kafka’s health declines (he would die of tuberculosis in June 1924), and he must find a way to end Soupsy’s adventures in a positive way. In an author’s note, readers learn that Kafka chose to write that Soupsy was getting married. Theule instead opts to send the doll on an Antarctic expedition. Irma gets the message that she can do anything, and the final image shows her riding a camel, a copy of Metamorphosis peeking from a satchel. While kids may not care about Kafka, the short relationship between the writer and the little girl will keep their interest. Realizing that an adult can care so much about a child met in the park is empowering. The stylized illustrations, especially those set in the chilly Berlin fall, resemble woodcuts with a German expressionist look. The doll’s adventures look a little sweeter, with more red and blue added to the brown palette of the German scenes. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.5-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at 23% of actual size.)
This reimagined telling has an engaging charm that rings true. (biographical note, bibliography) (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: March 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-11632-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
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