The War of 1812 is the period setting for this transitional chapter book from Caldecott Medalist McCully (The Orphan Singer, 2001, etc.). The story is based on a wartime incident that occurred in the Maryland coastal town of St. Michaels. McCully utilizes the facts about an invasion of British troops along with a legend of the townspeople hanging lanterns from roofs and treetops to trick the British into missing their targets. She uses several real military men as characters and invents an independent girl named Caroline and her friend Robert as her main characters. Caroline can run “faster than anyone else in town under fifteen,” putting her talent and fearless nature to good effect several times by running messages between commanders and running the flag back to town during a battle. McCully does a fine job of making the battle scene exciting without glorifying war or violence, and the devices of running messages and hanging the lanterns give Caroline and Robert a real part in the military maneuvers. McCully’s watercolor illustrations are full of interesting uniforms and period details, and she deftly handles the challenge of illustrating many scenes that occur at night. One rather jarring aspect of her art is Caroline’s unexplained short-cropped hair, which perhaps is intended to reflect her unconventional nature, but which is out of place with the time period. (author’s note) (Easy reader. 6-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-06-028728-4
Page Count: 64
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2002
The author of Appleblossom (p. 20), a Passover story set in Eastern Europe, re-creates a more somber chapter from the Jewish experience. Miriam, about five in Himler's tender illustrations, tells how her parents hid her when the Nazis invaded the Netherlands in 1940. Opening with a brief but explicit summary of the danger (``Jews...were sent to concentration camps, where many died a hideous death''), Miriam's narration focuses on her parents' love and care for her, the sorrow of all three at their parting, and the kindness of the farm family that takes her in. They have a hidden cupboard that opens when a painted lily is pressed; there she is to hide at need. Miriam's grief is not easily assuaged, but a pet rabbit offers some solace; in a final, dramatic scene, she almost doesn't make it to the hiding place in time because she is determined to protect her new pet. Oppenheim concludes there, pointing out the heroism of the many host families like Miriam's but leaving open the question of whether she or her parents survived—a wise, honest decision that avoids either telling more than is appropriate for young children or contriving an unrealistically happy ending. The carefully honed text includes some exquisitely touching details: asked to choose just one of her three dolls to take with her, Miriam replies, ``No dolls...they have to stay together.'' Himler's lovely, understated watercolors beautifully evoke the setting and the warmth of the relationships. An exceptionally sensitive and effective portrayal of a difficult subject. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Jan. 30, 1992
ISBN: 0-06-024669-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1991
Through Florrie’s eyes readers experience the despair and hopelessness of talented actors who were forced to leave the stage to find other work when the Lafayette Theatre closed its doors; the golden days of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s have disappeared into the Great Depression of the 1930s, and Florrie’s father, once an actor, toils at the Allnight Bakery. Florrie’s greatest dream is for her father to be able to leave his job and return to the stage, and so she makes a wish on a tree that grows next to the Lafayette Theatre; it has become a symbol of endurance for black actors, a tree of hope. A director, Mr. Welles, arrives when President Roosevelt orders that the doors of the theatre be opened; there is to be a staging of Macbeth, and Florrie’s father gets a part. An author’s note attests to the veracity of events in the story, when Orson Welles directed African-Americans in roles from which they were once excluded. Cooper’s lavish oil-wash, full-page paintings pay mute tribute to the loss of luster and its regeneration in Harlem, in scenes in which the footlights cast a glow, and in which the faces tell a story that hardly needs words. (bibliography) (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-399-23300-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1999
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