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POLAR SLUMBER/SUEÃ‘O POLAR

Name: POLAR SLUMBER/SUEÃ‘O POLAR
Author: Dennis; Illus. by the author Rockhill
ISBN: 0-9724973-1-5

by Dennis; Illus. by the author Rockhill ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2004

A poem on the last page, in both English and Spanish, seems superfluous after such a silently wonderful visual treat.

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This sweet, beautifully illustrated snow adventure uses creative design to tell one wordless story as if it were two.

On each double-page spread, a page-and-a-half forms one large blue and white picture tastefully highlighted with browns and golds. The other half-page features three tiny black-and-white drawings, vertically stacked but not separated by dividers. In both narratives, a girl builds a big polar bear out of snow, goes inside to bed, and falls into a dreamy frozen landscape. She plays with two polar bears, meets a baby seal and an arctic fox, and curls up to sleep between the two bears in an enchantingly cozy snow-sleep picture. Whether the adventures are dreams or reality doesn’t especially matter. Most interesting is the juxtaposition of large color pictures and the tiny black-and-whites: Rockhill avoids a facile formula (he could easily have taken the fantasy vs. reality route) and lets the content of the two complement—without repeating—each other. In the transition from bed to snowscape, a blanket edge slowly becomes a scarf and a snowdrift-like pillow becomes a hat. Those vertical hanging colors—are they curtain edges or the Aurora Borealis? This safe and thrilling night comes to an end as the girl wakes and ventures outside to find that her snowbear has melted—or maybe sauntered off to the Arctic.

A poem on the last page, in both English and Spanish, seems superfluous after such a silently wonderful visual treat. (3-6)

Pub Date: June 1, 2004

ISBN: 0-9724973-1-5

Page Count: -

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

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RED-EYED TREE FROG

by Joy Cowley ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1999

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Bishop’s spectacular photographs of the tiny red-eyed tree frog defeat an incidental text from Cowley (Singing Down the Rain, 1997, etc.). The frog, only two inches long, is enormous in this title; it appears along with other nocturnal residents of the rain forests of Central America, including the iguana, ant, katydid, caterpillar, and moth. In a final section, Cowley explains how small the frog is and aspects of its life cycle. The main text, however, is an afterthought to dramatic events in the photos, e.g., “But the red-eyed tree frog has been asleep all day. It wakes up hungry. What will it eat? Here is an iguana. Frogs do not eat iguanas.” Accompanying an astonishing photograph of the tree frog leaping away from a boa snake are three lines (“The snake flicks its tongue. It tastes frog in the air. Look out, frog!”) that neither advance nor complement the action. The layout employs pale and deep green pages and typeface, and large jewel-like photographs in which green and red dominate. The combination of such visually sophisticated pages and simplistic captions make this a top-heavy, unsatisfying title. (Picture book. 7-9)

Pub Date: March 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-590-87175-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Scholastic

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

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THE TINY WOMAN'S COAT
by Joy Cowley ; illustrated by Giselle Clarkson

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SONG OF THE RIVER
by Joy Cowley ; illustrated by Kimberly Andrews

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THE WARLI PEOPLE
by Hye-Eun Shin ; illustrated by Su-Bi Jeong ; edited by Joy Cowley

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TOUCHING SPIRIT BEAR

by Ben Mikaelsen ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 28, 2001

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Troubled teen meets totemic catalyst in Mikaelsen’s (Petey, 1998, etc.) earnest tribute to Native American spirituality. Fifteen-year-old Cole is cocky, embittered, and eaten up by anger at his abusive parents. After repeated skirmishes with the law, he finally faces jail time when he viciously beats a classmate. Cole’s parole officer offers him an alternative—Circle Justice, an innovative justice program based on Native traditions. Sentenced to a year on an uninhabited Arctic island under the supervision of Edwin, a Tlingit elder, Cole provokes an attack from a titanic white “Spirit Bear” while attempting escape. Although permanently crippled by the near-death experience, he is somehow allowed yet another stint on the island. Through Edwin’s patient tutoring, Cole gradually masters his rage, but realizes that he needs to help his former victims to complete his own healing. Mikaelsen paints a realistic portrait of an unlikable young punk, and if Cole’s turnaround is dramatic, it is also convincingly painful and slow. Alas, the rest of the characters are cardboard caricatures: the brutal, drunk father, the compassionate, perceptive parole officer, and the stoic and cryptic Native mentor. Much of the plot stretches credulity, from Cole’s survival to his repeated chances at rehabilitation to his victim being permitted to share his exile. Nonetheless, teens drawn by the brutality of Cole’s adventures, and piqued by Mikaelsen’s rather muscular mysticism, might absorb valuable lessons on anger management and personal responsibility. As melodramatic and well-meaning as the teens it targets. (Fiction. YA)