Demi wields her gifts to celebrate Florence Nightingale, who transformed the care of the sick and injured.
Florence Nightingale was born to wealthy English parents in Florence, Italy, and from an early age studied nursing and the care of the sick. As her family traveled from England to Italy, France and Germany, she visited hospitals and poorhouses to teach herself and to compare healing strategies. She went to Turkey to assist injured soldiers from the Crimean War, working to ensure sanitary conditions and to make healthful food and medicines available. The text is direct and clear, conveying complex information fluidly. Demi’s pictures feature her exquisite line and magnificent use of color, manipulating the flat, decorative space she uses to advance the story. She makes beautiful decorative patterns out of difficult and sometimes horrific situations. Nurses cleaning, scrubbing, comforting and assisting are directed by Nightingale, always pictured in a midnight-blue dress or cloak. One astonishing, gutsy double-page spread depicts the war hospital in Turkey. Leaking walls, rats, garbage and overflowing chamber pots among the stricken soldiers make a formal backdrop to officials rebuffing Nightingale and her nurses. With the turn of the page, readers see the changes in cleanliness, care and mood Nightingale effected. Characteristically beautiful illustrations nevertheless provide a pull-no-punches appreciation of the Lady with the Lamp. (timeline, further reading) (Picture book/biography. 7-11)
Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-8050-9729-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Nov. 19, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2013
A warm tale of family and friendship.
A girl with Down syndrome fears that her older brother is getting married.
Ten-year-old Ellie Anderson loves hanging with her brother, 15-year-old Ben. But lately, he’s been too busy with work and soccer to pay her much attention. He becomes even more preoccupied when he starts hanging out with new neighbor Sara and inviting her to outings that should be special just for Ben and Ellie, like their nature hike and the upcoming Ability Center dance. Worse, Ellie’s best friend, Ling, informs her that Ben and Sara are getting married: Ling’s marriage list says so. The list names six steps toward marriage, including hand-holding and kissing—and Ben and Sara are working their way through those steps. Ellie and Ling hatch a scheme to stop Ben from reaching step six: marrying Sara and moving to Hawaii. But the plan only causes hurt feelings, just when Ellie and Ben need to band together to save Ellie’s beloved backyard willow from being cut down by their parents so their magician dad will have room to build a workshop. Artistic, mischievous, and empathetic, Ellie is delightfully nuanced; Rogers’ illustrations readily convey her many emotions. Seabolt matter-of-factly portrays Ellie’s challenges, such as speech difficulties and “spaghetti noodle” muscles, and readers will root for her as she discovers her strengths and faces her fears. Ellie’s supportive family is heartening. Most characters read white; Ling is Chinese American.
A warm tale of family and friendship. (Down syndrome facts) (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781915244727
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Lantana
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
A satisfying, behind-the-scenes look at the work of an unsung designer.
Louis Comfort Tiffany, son of the famed jeweler and the man responsible for the iconic Tiffany stained glass windows, employed a crew of workers, including the “Tiffany Girls,” led by Clara Driscoll.
In 1888, Clara, an artist inspired by nature on her girlhood farm in Ohio, moved to New York City for school. Her sketches of flowers landed her a job with Mr. Tiffany. At first, Clara’s job was to choose and cut colored glass “gleaming like jewels” for Tiffany’s window designs. Her talents generated notice, and soon she led “the only shop of women glass cutters in the world.” Goldman Rubin describes how the windows were designed and assembled, and she provides some history of the cooperation and competition between men and women at Tiffany’s studio, including the perhaps surprising fact that they received equal pay. Eventually, Clara created her own designs for Tiffany’s lamps. One, inspired by dragonflies, earned her a bronze medal from the 1900 Paris World’s Fair. Clara designed lamps with butterflies, poppies, tulips, and flowering wisteria vines, which became “Tiffany’s most famous.” In Chapman’s resplendent accompanying illustration, shimmering with purples, yellows, and greens, Clara is dwarfed by the comparatively giant lamp—a fitting tribute to her outsize, little-known contribution to the art world. A secondary story based on Clara’s letter to her family about her work appears in Chapman’s joyously colored strip illustrations, along with excerpts from the correspondence.
A satisfying, behind-the-scenes look at the work of an unsung designer. (author’s and artist’s notes, archival photographs, where to see artworks by Clara Driscoll, bibliography, notes) (Picture-book biography. 7-10)Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2025
ISBN: 9781419754364
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
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