The lives of 30 great American writers are outlined here in clear, informative biographies from the Fabers (Birth of a Nation, 1989, etc.). The foreword describes the method used for choosing the featured writersno living authors were included, every recipient of the Nobel Prize wasand offers a small apology for coming up with so many dead white males. It would be hard to quibble with most of the choices, which include all the venerables from James Fenimore Cooper to Tennessee Williams, with a couple of token children's book authors thrown in. The bios themselves are short but complete, always engaging and occasionally sparkling. Readers will enjoy the consternation of the Wharton family friends who worried that young Edith was too clever, and knowing that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow penned the rhyme that begins, ``There was a little girl/Who had a little curl/Right in the middle of her forehead.'' Although not as witty and unconventional as Kathleen Krull's Lives of the Writers (1994), this is a solid contribution to the Great Lives series. (b&w photos, not seen; bibliography, further reading) (Biography. 9-11)
Pub Date: June 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-684-19448-1
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
To the true story of Mary Anning, a pre-Darwin fossil hunter who made a major discovery at the age of 11, Anholt adds a folklorish spin. Derided by other children and set apart by surviving a bolt of lightning, Mary assembles such an impressive collection of “snakestones” and “curiosities” from the clay cliffs around her Dorset village that two female scientists take her under their wings. Later, after the death of her father, known as “Pepper” for his speckled beard, she meets a similarly speckled dog, who becomes her constant companion and, before disappearing, leads her to a giant, spectacular marine fossil. Tumbling cottages and spectral dinosaurs across a crumpled landscape, combining swirls of vivid color with disparate perspectives, Moxley creates a hectic, feverish visual rhythm for the tale, but anchors her scenes with Mary’s small, solid figure, in no-nonsense braids and brown shift. A tale that is frequently, and more conventionally, told elsewhere, it lends itself well to such an atmospheric, crackling rendition. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-531-30148-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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