This informative picture book about onomastics reveals how names are chosen, from celebrity baby names to pets’ names to names for cars, companies and hurricanes. It investigates the connection between people’s names and the jobs they end up pursuing. Is it just a coincidence that David M. Bird studies birds and that Les Plack is a dentist? What are we to make of the chiropractor Dr. Robert Bonebrake? Also provided are discussions of cultural naming practices and tips for remembering the names of new acquaintances. The prose is informal and entertaining, and Stearn’s comic illustrations and numerous insets keep the text visually interesting. While the subject matter is unlikely to be a first investigative choice with the set this is aimed at, those interested in what we name things and why will be pleased to encounter this well-researched and engagingly presented book. (glossary, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: May 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-670-01197-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2009
When Aje, the daughter of the river goddess Yemoya, leaves her underwater home to marry, what she misses most is the night. The sun shines all the time in her new home and hurts her eyes. Her husband sends couriers to Yemoya, with the request that they return with some night. Yemoya gladly packs a sack for them, warning the creatures not to peek inside. Of course, that’s a temptation too big for the animals to resist; all the bats, owls, gnats, spiders, and darkness whoosh out of the bag. At first, the animals are scared, but they soon adjust to the darkness, as does Aje, who falls into a deep peaceful sleep. The next morning, she names the morning star, the rooster, and the early rising birds as symbols of dawn. Riordan’s language is perfunctory, but Stow’s pictures portray both the fluid blue of underwater life, and the parching hot yellows and oranges of the earth. This competent retelling, fully sourced, could be added to more extensive folklore collections. (Picture book/folklore. 5-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7613-1358-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Millbrook
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1999
It’s hard for most US readers to imagine what it is like to grow up amid ongoing violence, but that is what Liam’s life has been in Belfast. However, this 11-year-old’s family life, school, and dreams will be known to children everywhere. After providing an overview of “the Troubles,” McMahon movingly describes the conditions of Liam’s existence: a Catholic, he has never known a Protestant—“peace walls” separate the Catholic and Protestant sections of Belfast. On his way to school, Liam passes buildings with large messages painted on them: “Brits Out,” or “No Surrender.” Family and school conversations often include passing references to a bomb going off. O’Connor’s full-color photographs show all the aspects of Liam’s life, including his training for a boxing match; the boy loses, but rather than believe that the judges ruled against him because of where he’s from, he quotes a rule he has learned—“We win, or we lose. Then we go on.” This book provides a realistic glimpse of a place where peace has taken a fragile hold, and offers a reminder that the dreams of children can flourish amid misery. (map) (Nonfiction. 7-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-68620-2
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1999
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