In nine warm and winning holiday tales, veteran storyteller Davis either looks back at his own youthful experiences or recalls family tales from a previous generation. Writing in the same measured, tongue-in-cheek tones in which he tells his stories live, he opens with his father’s description of the simple pleasure of making a Christmas orange last as long as possible. He closes with an account of the time he and a friend inadvertently trapped their fathers in a pit intended for their little brothers. And in between, he describes encounters with sleds, department-store Santas and a pilfered cigar; what holidays were like at Grandma and Grandpa’s non-electrified house; measures taken to make sure Santa didn’t fall into the new oil heater just installed in the fireplace; a disastrous (and hilarious) mishap at a church Christmas pageant, and similar memories. Most of these rural and small-town episodes are available as recordings—on Davis’s Christmas at Grandma’s (1994) and elsewhere—but they translate just fine into print, and for sharing, make the next best thing to a live concert. (Short stories. 10-12)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-87483-746-4
Page Count: 128
Publisher: August House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
Wheeler offers a scrapbook-style travelogue of her seven-month stint on the world’s coldest continent. Letters to her...
In an eye-opening companion to such works as Jennifer Armstrong’s Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World (1999) and Elizabeth Cody Kimmel’s Ice Story (p. 66) on Shackleton, readers get a contemporary look at Antarctica.
Wheeler offers a scrapbook-style travelogue of her seven-month stint on the world’s coldest continent. Letters to her godson, Daniel, describe a harsh environment so cold that dental fillings fall out. Double-page spreads dotted with full-color snapshots form short chapters on the icy region, suiting up, the difficulties of everyday existence, food and drink, shelter, transportation, entertainment, and wildlife. The last third of the volume is devoted to current scientific pursuits as well as an overview of famous expeditions to the nearly uninhabitable “bottom of the planet.” The cheery photographs – most by the author – show her dwarfed by the Barne glacier, posing with Emperor penguins, even building an igloo. While the chatty letters highlight personal details of the trip, boxed inserts provide background information. Key dates in Antarctic history complete this accessible profile, ideal as entry into units on the region. (maps, charts, diagrams, further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: July 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-87226-295-2
Page Count: 44
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1999
Gentieu creates an engaging set of photographs for very young eyes. Every spread pairs a large full-color close-up of an infant and a phrase that has clearly recognizable echoes for adults: “Where are baby’s toes?” and “How big is baby?” On the facing page, superimposed against soft pastel backgrounds, are several smaller photographs of infants engaged in a relevant activity, e.g., “Clap hands baby!” appears with babies engaged in enthusiastic attempts at patty-cake. Clad in colorful diapers, these cherubs smile, frown, laugh, and frolic through the book, candidly expressing a wide range of emotions. The direct correlation between text and photos provide children with visual clues that reinforce their comprehension of basic words and phrases. (Picture book. 1-3)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-517-80028-4
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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