Expansive content impressively and beautifully presented.
A woman travels the length of the Hudson River by canoe in Cooper’s (Train, 2013) latest, a 12-inch-square picture book.
“Morning, a mountain lake. A traveler, a canoe.” Cooper’s text is spare in style yet detailed and lengthy: Paragraphs on each spread compete with pencil-and-watercolor illustrations that alternate among double-page panoramic landscapes of impressive views, smaller scenes against white space, and miniature vignettes of the faceless traveler in motion. The 300-mile solo journey itself begins with a question: “Can she do this?” A rock rises out of the water—no, “a moose.” There are rapids to brave, thunder, cold, a bear cub to avoid, a dam around which to portage (such vocabulary is made clear in context), and many more challenges to face. There are also the peaceful joys of “paddling, sketching, eating, camping, paddling again,” friendly faces at stops along the way, and the assurance that “she is strong, and she knows what she’s doing.” The myriad details about the journey will interest slightly older, outdoorsy children interested in adventure and travel. At the conclusion of this beautiful book, when the water-weary traveler ends her journey in the arms of her loved ones, ready to turn her sketches and words into paintings and a story, readers will feel they have traveled a journey themselves, and they just may wonder if they would ever have the strength, endurance, bravery and know-how to undertake such an endeavor themselves.
Expansive content impressively and beautifully presented. (author’s note, note on the Hudson River, sources, further reading, map) (Picture book. 6-12)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-31226-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
A debut that challenges the brain while warming the heart.
San Francisco landmarks and their rich literary histories lead two friends on an urban quest to solve clues left behind in an Edgar Allan Poe book by publisher and Book Scavenger mastermind Garrison Griswold.
When Emily Crane, a book enthusiast and puzzle-solver, moves into her new apartment, she meets James Lee, a cipher-solving whiz with a cowlick he’s named Steve. For years Emily has moved from state to state with her parents and older brother, and she longs for stability. She doesn’t allow herself to get attached, unlike James, whose Chinese-American family has lived in the same apartment building for decades. When Griswold is attacked, Emily fears for his life and the future of Book Scavenger, her beloved online geocachinglike game for books. After a disappointing book hunt at the Ferry Building, Emily finds an unexpected hardcover, The Gold-Bug, near where Griswold was attacked. Believing the book is Griswold’s pre-launched game, she becomes obsessed with solving its hidden messages while dodging two thugs and risking her friendship with James. Puzzling out the clever ciphers fascinates and adds dimension and curiosity to each quest. The characters’ use of both high and low tech, such as the letter-basket pulley they set up between floors, feels refreshing. Emily’s sleuthing weaves well with her journey to nurture friendships and set down everlasting roots.
A debut that challenges the brain while warming the heart. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: June 2, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-62779-115-1
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s not the first time old Ben has paid our times a call, but it’s funny and free-spirited, with an informational load that...
Antics both instructive and embarrassing ensue after a mysterious package left on their doorstep brings a Founding Father into the lives of two modern children.
Summoned somehow by what looks for all the world like an old-time crystal radio set, Ben Franklin turns out to be an amiable sort. He is immediately taken in hand by 7-year-old Olive for a tour of modern wonders—early versions of which many, from electrical appliances in the kitchen to the Illinois town’s public library and fire department, he justly lays claim to inventing. Meanwhile big brother Nolan, 10, tags along, frantic to return him to his own era before either their divorced mom or snoopy classmate Tommy Tuttle sees him. Fleming, author of Ben Franklin’s Almanac (2003) (and also, not uncoincidentally considering the final scene of this outing, Our Eleanor, 2005), mixes history with humor as the great man dispenses aphorisms and reminiscences through diverse misadventures, all of which end well, before vanishing at last. Following a closing, sequel-cueing kicker (see above) she then separates facts from fancies in closing notes, with print and online leads to more of the former. To go with spot illustrations of the evidently all-white cast throughout the narrative, Fearing incorporates change-of-pace sets of sequential panels for Franklin’s biographical and scientific anecdotes. Final illustrations not seen.
It’s not the first time old Ben has paid our times a call, but it’s funny and free-spirited, with an informational load that adds flavor without weight. (Graphic/fantasy hybrid. 9-11)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-101-93406-7
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017
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