This direct and heartwarming biography follows the life of Ricardo Romo from his boyhood in San Antonio, Texas, as the son of small grocers, through his hard work and successes as a high-school and university athlete and into his adult life as a schoolteacher, professor and university president. Focusing both on family love and responsibilities, and his school successes and disappointments (his junior-high counselor suggested he not attend a college-preparatory high school), Bertrand portrays a boy and young man always ready to contribute to his family or team and prepared to push himself as far as he can. Accardo's old-fashioned and realistic artwork suits the time period—the 1940s through the 1960s—with rich colors and strong, simple lines, reminiscent of those in coloring books. Both English and Spanish texts are smooth, inviting and squarely aimed at young readers. (Picture book/biography. 8-11)
Pub Date: May 31, 2007
ISBN: 978-1-55885-481-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Piñata Books/Arte Público
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2007
From Kroll (Lewis and Clark, 1994, etc.), a handsomely illustrated biography that introduces a fascinating historical figure and will make readers yearn for more information. The facts are covered, including Fulton’s stints as sign painter, air-gun inventor, and apprentice jeweler; Kroll states clearly which details cannot be pinned down, and the probable order of events and incidents. The text is informative and lively, although in places the transitions are abrupt, e.g., one of the only references to Fulton’s personal life—“Meanwhile, on January 7, 1808, Fulton had married Harriet Livingston. She bore him four children”—quickly reverts to details on the building of boats. Warm gold-toned paintings convey a sense of times past and complement the text. Especially appealing are the depictions of the steamships. A welcome volume. (chronology) (Picture book/biography. 6-10)
Pub Date: March 15, 1999
ISBN: 0-8234-1433-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1999
In what has, for no discernable reason, become a rush to publish biographies of Bell, this emerges as the least formal, most approachable of the pack. MacLeod (I Heard a Little Baa, 1998) takes the great inventor, familiarly dubbed “AGB,” from Edinburgh to Ontario, on to Boston, and finally to his estate in Nova Scotia, giving his public and private lives equal attention, capturing his vast range of interest from aeronautics to audiology, and bringing his familiar exploits to life. A stubby caricature of Bell guides readers through full but not overcrowded collages of family photos, manuscript pages, simple diagrams, period advertisements, and newspaper illustrations. This is just a glimpse of the man, of course, and those who want to take a longer look can start with either the web sites listed at the back, or move on to Tom L. Matthews’s Always Inventing (p. 69). (index) (Biography. 8-10)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 1-55074-456-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
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