Readers will goggle at the very notion.
The lengths that high-society women in the 1700s would go to for their hairstyles….
Mrs. Muriel Paddington would like to win an award at the Moonlight Ball. After some back and forth with her hairdresser, she decides upon a windmill theme. The next spreads detail the elaborate 3-foot-tall hairpiece’s construction. It includes a wire frame, pillow, and hair extensions “donated” (read: demanded) from her maid. Then there’s the beef-marrow and wax pomade, the pound of flour per week that dusts the creation, and the mixture of sugar water that solidifies the whole thing—no wonder Mrs. Paddington has a problem with mice when she finally gets into bed and tries to sleep (sitting mostly upright with a special pillow). A visit to the Silver Mousetrap Shoppe takes care of the problem, and a pewter headscratcher gives some relief from the insects infesting her hairdo. Readers will likely either be laughing like the commoners on the street or shaking their heads in disbelief that rich grown-ups would actually crawl in and out of a store because they couldn’t fit through the door upright. Cox’s illustrations ably capture the whimsy and creativity of the hairstyles while poking gentle fun at the same time. Mrs. Paddington’s surroundings are suitably opulent, all the people are pale, and the dialogue is aptly stuffy. Occasional sidebars attest to the historicity that underlies the ridiculousness, but there is no explicit parsing of fact from fancy.
Readers will goggle at the very notion. (sources) (Picture book. 8-12)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-63440-900-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Red Chair Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
An inviting collection of insightful, interesting and often wacky and weird facts and stories about U.S. presidents and...
A fascinating and entertaining insider's intimate view of the White House through the eyes of 70 children and grandchildren of our commanders in chief.
Through first-person accounts from letters and interviews, Rhatigan reveals the perks and problems of living in America's most famous residence. A bowling alley in the basement and chefs available to make any food you want sound great, but you also have to put up with reporters following your every move and Secret Service agents never letting you out of sight. Readers learn how life in the White House has changed since John Adams and his family first occupied the mansion, who were the worst behaved presidential children, about the menageries of animals that have come and gone, and what kind of relationships children had with their parents. Factoids sprinkled throughout the text offer anecdotes about White House weddings, gifts presidential kids received and ghosts that supposedly haunt the mansion. Attractively designed in a scrapbook format with appropriate use of red, white and blue, the text is abundantly illustrated with photographs and archival images.
An inviting collection of insightful, interesting and often wacky and weird facts and stories about U.S. presidents and their families. (appendices, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: July 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-936140-80-0
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Imagine Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 29, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2012
Undisguised ephemera.
With help from a CD-sized cardboard decoder disk, young archaeologists can discover for themselves that the ancient Atlantean language was actually English.
Threaded together along a thin and thoroughly predictable plotline involving a fictional 19th-century submarine expedition to the Mediterranean, this low-budget item assembles a hodgepodge of facts about Minoans and mazes, underwater archaeology, mapmaking history and theories about Atlantis. It lays these out along with easily spotted “clues” to the legendary island’s location on old documents and artifacts. Many of said clues are short messages slightly hidden behind a substitution code that uses modified Roman capitals. Exceptionally lazy readers can skip to the end to find the translations, along with solutions to other conundrums posed during the expedition’s contrived misadventures. Printed on heavy stock with an occasional side flap, the spreads all offer a visual jumble of narrative blocks, small historical images, photos of live models in period dress and new art to fill in the gaps.
Undisguised ephemera. (Novelty. 10-12)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7534-6680-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Kingfisher
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
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