A fun adventure that introduces young children to American history.
A missing tennis ball leads to a lesson in American history for golden retriever Dubs in this children’s book by Morris, McGann and Liotta.
When Dubs discovers that his prized tennis ball has rolled away, he sets off on a mission to find it. The journey takes him throughout Washington, D.C., from the Lincoln Memorial to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and to just about every point-of-interest in between. At each stop, before resuming the search for his tennis ball, Dubs reflects on the meaning or purpose of the site and how it personally affects him. While gazing up at the columns of the U.S. Supreme Court building, Dubs considers how “[i]f another dog took away my ball / the court would get it / back for me after all.” At the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Dubs thinks, “If people are equal, can it possibly be / That dogs are too,…especially me?” By having Dubs not just recite what each site is and its role in American history but also briefly explain how the buildings or the actions of the people being memorialized personally affect him, the authors make it easier for children to relate to the imposing federal buildings and monuments. The rhyming scheme, though at times a bit clunky (“Dubs stopped by to visit the White House / To see the president and his lovely spouse”) keep the tone light, as does the missing tennis ball. Young readers will have fun searching for the bright yellow ball—always just out of Dubs’ sight—in each of the illustrations. The illustrations, by Liotta, both capture the playful side of Dubs and, at times, the solemnity of the monuments he visits. Each drawn from a different angle, they invite readers in for a closer look. At the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, for example, Dubs hides beneath the folds of FDR’s cape, growling at Fala, the president’s Scottish terrier, who is also memorialized. At the World War II memorial, with his back to us, Dubs sits peacefully, surrounded by green memorial wreaths. The illustrations, coupled with the breadth of sites that Dubs visits, (15 in all), will keep readers interested while they learn about history and help Dubs find his tennis ball.
A fun adventure that introduces young children to American history.Pub Date: Oct. 19, 2011
ISBN: 978-1439280263
Page Count: 44
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Nov. 29, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An emotional, much-needed historical graphic novel.
Sandy and his family, Japanese Canadians, experience hatred and incarceration during World War II.
Sandy Saito loves baseball, and the Vancouver Asahi ballplayers are his heroes. But when they lose in the 1941 semifinals, Sandy’s dad calls it a bad omen. Sure enough, in December 1941, Japan bombs Pearl Harbor in the U.S. The Canadian government begins to ban Japanese people from certain areas, moving them to “dormitories” and setting a curfew. Sandy wants to spend time with his father, but as a doctor, his dad is busy, often sneaking out past curfew to work. One night Papa is taken to “where he [is] needed most,” and the family is forced into an internment camp. Life at the camp isn’t easy, and even with some of the Asahi players playing ball there, it just isn’t the same. Trying to understand and find joy again, Sandy struggles with his new reality and relationship with his father. Based on the true experiences of Japanese Canadians and the Vancouver Asahi team, this graphic novel is a glimpse of how their lives were affected by WWII. The end is a bit abrupt, but it’s still an inspiring and sweet look at how baseball helped them through hardship. The illustrations are all in a sepia tone, giving it an antique look and conveying the emotions and struggles. None of the illustrations of their experiences are overly graphic, making it a good introduction to this upsetting topic for middle-grade readers.
An emotional, much-needed historical graphic novel. (afterword, further resources) (Graphic historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5253-0334-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A deftly told story that dramatizes how Danes appointed themselves bodyguards—not only for their king, who was in the habit...
The author of the Anastasia books as well as more serious fiction (Rabble Starkey, 1987) offers her first historical fiction—a story about the escape of the Jews from Denmark in 1943.
Five years younger than Lisa in Carol Matas' Lisa's War (1989), Annemarie Johansen has, at 10, known three years of Nazi occupation. Though ever cautious and fearful of the ubiquitous soldiers, she is largely unaware of the extent of the danger around her; the Resistance kept even its participants safer by telling them as little as possible, and Annemarie has never been told that her older sister Lise died in its service. When the Germans plan to round up the Jews, the Johansens take in Annemarie's friend, Ellen Rosen, and pretend she is their daughter; later, they travel to Uncle Hendrik's house on the coast, where the Rosens and other Jews are transported by fishing boat to Sweden. Apart from Lise's offstage death, there is little violence here; like Annemarie, the reader is protected from the full implications of events—but will be caught up in the suspense and menace of several encounters with soldiers and in Annemarie's courageous run as courier on the night of the escape. The book concludes with the Jews' return, after the war, to homes well kept for them by their neighbors.
A deftly told story that dramatizes how Danes appointed themselves bodyguards—not only for their king, who was in the habit of riding alone in Copenhagen, but for their Jews. (Historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: April 1, 1989
ISBN: 0547577095
Page Count: 156
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1989
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