In a work subtitled ``A Day of Baby Carrying Around the World,'' the Bernhards (The Way of the Willow Branch, p. 370, etc.) demonstrate the universal methods for keeping babies safe while people work and play. A West African baby sleeps on his mother's back while she fetches water; an Inuit baby nestles in the hood of his mother's parka as she fishes through the ice; a Peruvian baby rides in a shawl on her mother's back while the mother herds sheep in the Andes. The Bernhards visit 12 diverse cultures, examining the work of the adults from the point of view of small children who are along for the ride. This is an exquisite book, for the detailed, folk-art style gouache illustrations, its overall design, and the wealth of information it includes. World maps show the location of each featured parent and baby, who are discussed in a cultural context, with one full-page illustration and one attractive, bordered page of text. Many preschoolers won't sit still for all the facts, but they will love the pictures of babies sleeping, watching, participating; older children will find the information compelling and can locate more details in notes at the back. (Picture book. 2-6)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-200870-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The best thing about this rather insipid reworking of this ancient tale is its gorgeous jacket painting: full of lush detail in texture, fabric, flora, and fauna, with berries ripe enough to eat, a steaming pot, and upholstery lovingly rendered. Surprisingly, the illustrations within are wan and lacking in energy or depth. In her debut, Summers reprises the familiar tale: Country mouse Tilly lives in the roots of an old tree, domestic as all get out as she sweeps and sews and puts food by for the winter. Her friend Milly visits from town, but misses cheese and cannot sleep for the quiet. Milly returns the hospitality; Tilly is enchanted by the dollhouse in which Milly lives in the city, but dislikes the house cat. A much livelier rendering of this story can be found in Jan Brett's Town Mouse, Country Mouse (1994). (Picture book/folklore. 3-6)
Pub Date: July 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-525-45801-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
A flawed look at the ways children play around the world. Many children in the United States or Canada may no longer make their own toys, but the photos of kids from Bangladesh, Malawi and Sudan who have created their own playthings from bits of wood and wire or even old radios are intriguing. The photos of children dancing in Peru and Myanmar, building with plastic blocks in Indonesia and Vietnam and playing with balls in Ethiopia and Mongolia (activities a little more familiar to most North American readers) can also work as conversation starters. Unfortunately, this book in the World Vision Early Readers series suffers from a lack of specific identification (readers have to go to the photo credits to find out where the pictures were taken), no map and a text that provides little new information. While the emphasis on the universal is understandable, maps and country names can and should become part of every child’s early learning, and it’s precisely these visual books that could help make children aware of the world outside their little neighborhood. Look for others that do the job better. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: April 13, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-88776-998-6
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 29, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2010
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