From an ``internationally known folk artist,'' a series of carefully composed images representing the most significant and/or best-known points in Lincoln's life. Zeldis's designs are decorative and lively, her colors vibrant—emerald, electric blue, lemon, gold, crimson, fuchsia. But the stiff forms and dour, stolidly stylized figures— recalling traditional naive art—are distancing. Kunhardt presents the essential facts in a brief, unadorned text with sentences so short and simple that they fall like the blows of a hammer. An acceptable first biography, and interesting for the art, where funds permit. (Biography/Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Jan. 16, 1993
ISBN: 0-688-11189-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
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
PLB 0-7358-1052-4 Cinderella (32 pp.; $15.95, PLB $15.88; Apr.; 0-7358-1051-6, PLB 0-7358-1052-4): Perrault’s ancient tale of Cinderella has been slimmed and toned down considerably, with her virtues less evident and the supporting cast less effective. Readers will wonder why Cinderella’s father, who is not conveniently dead in this story, doesn’t rally to her aid, but they will be otherwise enchanted by Koopmans’s delicate illustrations. One good French touch comes at dinner; the prince is so besotted that “even when the most delicious dishes were served for supper, he could not eat a morsel.” (Picture book/folklore. 5-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7358-1051-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1999
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