A brilliant composer’s legacy perpetuated, happily for today’s music lovers, by stalwart friendships.
A virtuoso gets his due.
Franz Schubert, dubbed “Our Little Mushroom” by friends because he was small and rotund, adored music from childhood. Narrated by “we,” in the voice of his (mostly) unnamed, devoted friends, this lighthearted, informative biography discusses the brief life and career of the quiet Viennese prodigy. His father discouraged his musical ambition, citing its risky financial future. However, friends encouraged Schubert to follow his passion, and, in early adulthood, he joined them in pursuing a life devoted to the arts. These allies promoted Schubert’s vast accomplishments, enabling him to present impromptu concerts from which he earned a stellar reputation and ardent admirers, though no income; he gave only one paid public concert during his lifetime. By the time Schubert died at age 31 in 1828 (a year after the death of his idol, Ludwig van Beethoven, at whose funeral he’d been a torchbearer), he’d produced 1,000 musical works, including lieder—lyrical songs—some set to friends’ poems. This well-written, inspirational book might interest adults more than children, but youngsters studying Schubert’s piano pieces could also appreciate it; children would benefit from hearing the master’s music after listening to or reading this title. The delicate watercolor and pen-and-ink illustrations are lively, admirably capturing Schubert’s fervent spirit and historical details of time and place. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A brilliant composer’s legacy perpetuated, happily for today’s music lovers, by stalwart friendships. (author's note, bibliography) (Picture-book biography. 5-9)Pub Date: Aug. 16, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5344-8878-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
An unremarkable introduction to a remarkable man.
Despite the odds, Jackson Sundown, a Nez Perce youth, became a champion rider.
In 1877 the United States Army attacked 17-year-old Jackson’s encampment, ending the Nez Perce’s famed attempt to avoid relocation from their homeland. He escaped and fled to Canada; meanwhile, the tribal leader, Chief Joseph, had no choice but to surrender, forcing the remaining Nez Perce to move to Indian Territory. Years later, Jackson returned from Canada and worked on ranches in Idaho training horses. When he was 49, he began entering rodeo competitions. He rode both horses and bulls and earned a reputation as a showman. At the age of 53, Jackson won the 1916 Pendleton Round-Up World Championship for bronco riding. Well after his death in 1923, Jackson was admitted to the Pendleton Roundup Hall of Fame, and in 1976 he was inducted into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, the only Native American to be included. Following a brief overview of the last days of Nez Perce independence, Fisher’s biography focuses on Jackson’s career. In this straightforward account, the racism Sundown faced is touched on but not explored; the use of the term “costume” instead of the more respectful word “regalia” is a serious oversight. Cotton’s colorful and lively illustrations capture the spirit of the rodeo.
An unremarkable introduction to a remarkable man. (author’s note, bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 5-9)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4556-2361-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Pelican
Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2017
This view into Procter’s brief life connects her early passion for reptiles with her innovative career combining scientific...
Valdez introduces Joan Procter, whose lifelong love of reptiles yielded a career at London’s Natural History Museum and the London Zoo.
Avid for reptiles from childhood, Joan received a crocodile for her 16th birthday. First assisting, then succeeding the museum’s curator of reptiles, Joan surveyed the collections, published papers, and made models for exhibits. Her designs for the zoo’s reptile house incorporated innovative lighting and heating as well as plants and artwork evoking the reptiles’ habitats. Joan’s reputation soared with the arrival of two 7-foot-long Komodo dragons, coinciding with the reptile house’s opening. Presenting a paper at the Zoological Society, Joan brought along one of them, Sumbawa, who ate a pigeon whole and strolled among attendees. Valdez’s narrative alludes to Procter’s poor health obliquely: pet reptiles cheered her “on the days Joan was too sick to attend school,” and a later spread depicts her “riding through the zoo” in a wheelchair. (An appended note explains that a “chronic intestinal illness” led to Joan’s death at just 34.) Sala portrays stylized reptiles and 1920s-era British clothing. People’s skin tones range from stark white to various tans and browns. Indeed, although she was white, Joan’s skin varies throughout, sometimes appearing white and pink and others times various shades of beige.
This view into Procter’s brief life connects her early passion for reptiles with her innovative career combining scientific research, practice, art, and design. (author’s note, bibliography of primary sources, photographs) (Picture book/biography. 6-8)Pub Date: March 13, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-399-55725-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2017
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