Vivaldi’s Venice is the scene for this somewhat melodramatic story of sacrifice for the greater good. Young Antonio Dolci has great talent as a singer, but the Dolcis have so little money they cannot afford lessons. When his sister Nina is born, Antonio’s parents are determined to give her a better life. With breaking hearts they drop her into the infant drawer at the orphanage, where foundling girls with talent receive the best musical training in Europe. Now known as Caterina, Nina is not allowed outside its walls. Her voice is one of the best in the orphanage and she joins the chorus at a young age. On visiting day the Dolci family is always there pretending to be strangers. When the family does not appear one day, Caterina is worried. At last, Papa Dolci arrives to tell her that Antonio is seriously ill and may die. Desperate to see him, and knowing he will become well if he hears her sing, she slips out of the orphanage late at night, manages to tell a sleepy gondolier the address she remembered, and appears at the Dolci home to sing to Antonio. He gets well and the family is there to hear her debut with the choir. Caterina becomes a famous opera star and never forgets the Dolcis, for she has “long ago guessed the truth.” Full-color watercolor-and-tempura paintings are framed in pastel colors with a marbleized effect reminiscent of the elegant papers for which Italy is famous. The two double-paged spreads, however, are not framed, creating a jarring effect to the design. Venetian scenes and costumes are magical both by day and night, but the figures are somewhat indistinct, at times giving a muddled look to the pictures. A sweet tale that will appeal to readers who enjoy fairy tales. (author’s note) (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-439-19274-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Levine/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2001
An absolute pleasure.
A small dog takes a huge leap.
True to her name, sled dog puppy Leap spends her days bounding happily through blankets of freshly fallen snow, bouncily biding her time until she, too, can suit up for a run with the team. Each dog brings a different, equally essential skill to the work of mushing, and as too-young Leap greets the pack when they return from their daily hike, she worries—what if she lacks a special talent of her own when it’s her time to race? But when the much-anticipated day arrives and Leap clips in for her rookie run, her feet tippity-tap excitedly, any trace of self-doubt eclipsed by her irrepressible enthusiasm. With their new addition in tow, the other dogs take off, buoyed as ever by a confidence borne from specialized expertise; they confront obstacles head-on, sailing easily along icy Northwoods terrain. That is until the team encounters a seemingly insurmountable hurdle, one that only their greenest member can clear. Dogsled racer Braverman’s sweet narrative builds a satisfying case for individuality as a community asset, celebrating both the value of teamwork and the discrete strengths that comprise it. Savvy readers will take pride in predicting Leap’s unique contribution, while canine lovers will delight in the revelation that the pups depicted are all real-life sled dogs working in northern Wisconsin. When’s illustrations are equal parts spellbinding and precious, deftly balancing compositional simplicity with masterful color work. The result is peerless.
An absolute pleasure. (author’s note) (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9780063238053
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses.
An NBA star pays tribute to the influence of his grandfather.
In the same vein as his Long Shot (2009), illustrated by Frank Morrison, this latest from Paul prioritizes values and character: “My granddad Papa Chilly had dreams that came true,” he writes, “so maybe if I listen and watch him, / mine will too.” So it is that the wide-eyed Black child in the simply drawn illustrations rises early to get to the playground hoops before anyone else, watches his elder working hard and respecting others, hears him cheering along with the rest of the family from the stands during games, and recalls in a prose afterword that his grandfather wasn’t one to lecture but taught by example. Paul mentions in both the text and the backmatter that Papa Chilly was the first African American to own a service station in North Carolina (his presumed dream) but not that he was killed in a robbery, which has the effect of keeping the overall tone positive and the instructional content one-dimensional. Figures in the pictures are mostly dark-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-81003-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
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