Using the vast resources of the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York City, Wilson has created this exciting and beautiful history of the illuminated manuscript. In her introduction, Wilson explains the importance of manuscripts in medieval times: The cost of a large and lavishly illustrated volume could be about the same as that of building a medium-size cathedral, she informs us. These were clearly no ordinary books. A single one could take years to complete, and Wilson explains everything from parchment preparation to how scribes handled errors in the text. (One picture shows a phrase that had been left out being carried from the margin by a little creature and a man as another man points to the spot where it belonged.) She describes the scriptorium, the origins of the codex, and traces the changes in the illuminated manuscript from early medieval times through the printing of the Gutenberg Bible in the 15th century. (To ease readers into the new technology, ruled lines were added to the Gutenberg Bible, though of course there was no need for them.) Nearly 100 photographs are included, with detailed captions that are as interesting and informative as the main body of text. A glorious book, both fascinating and gorgeously presented. (Glossary; notes; further reading; a list of public collections of illuminated manuscripts in the US) (Nonfiction. 10+)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-374-30685-0
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1994
When Death tells a story, you pay attention. Liesel Meminger is a young girl growing up outside of Munich in Nazi Germany, and Death tells her story as “an attempt—a flying jump of an attempt—to prove to me that you, and your human existence, are worth it.” When her foster father helps her learn to read and she discovers the power of words, Liesel begins stealing books from Nazi book burnings and the mayor’s wife’s library. As she becomes a better reader, she becomes a writer, writing a book about her life in such a miserable time. Liesel’s experiences move Death to say, “I am haunted by humans.” How could the human race be “so ugly and so glorious” at the same time? This big, expansive novel is a leisurely working out of fate, of seemingly chance encounters and events that ultimately touch, like dominoes as they collide. The writing is elegant, philosophical and moving. Even at its length, it’s a work to read slowly and savor. Beautiful and important. (Fiction. 12+)
Pub Date: March 14, 2006
ISBN: 0-375-83100-2
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2006
Certain to provoke controversy and difficult to see as a book for children, who could easily miss the painful point.
After Hitler appoints Bruno’s father commandant of Auschwitz, Bruno (nine) is unhappy with his new surroundings compared to the luxury of his home in Berlin.
The literal-minded Bruno, with amazingly little political and social awareness, never gains comprehension of the prisoners (all in “striped pajamas”) or the malignant nature of the death camp. He overcomes loneliness and isolation only when he discovers another boy, Shmuel, on the other side of the camp’s fence. For months, the two meet, becoming secret best friends even though they can never play together. Although Bruno’s family corrects him, he childishly calls the camp “Out-With” and the Fuhrer “Fury.” As a literary device, it could be said to be credibly rooted in Bruno’s consistent, guileless characterization, though it’s difficult to believe in reality. The tragic story’s point of view is unique: the corrosive effect of brutality on Nazi family life as seen through the eyes of a naïf. Some will believe that the fable form, in which the illogical may serve the objective of moral instruction, succeeds in Boyne’s narrative; others will believe it was the wrong choice.
Certain to provoke controversy and difficult to see as a book for children, who could easily miss the painful point. (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2006
ISBN: 0-385-75106-0
Page Count: 224
Publisher: David Fickling/Random
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2006
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