The unfinished, monolithic Cathedral of Saint John the Divine looms over Morningside Heights, New York City, a massive work in progress that is currently at a standstill for lack of funding. Its story is one mixing the medieval and the modern: chisels and mallets shape its stone, computers plot the templates, dust swirls in the carving shed, vacuums clear the air. Ancona's crisp full- color photographs and blunt text introduce members of the most recent construction team, situating their talents in the building process (which begins in a quarry in Indiana): carver and quarrier, saw runner and mason, breaker and sander. But the narrative stumbles when addressing the feelings and philosophies of these artisans, e.g., ``I went to Italy and got my hands on a piece of marble and that was it.'' Sincere, no doubt, but it and other quotes are wooden, fugitive, and likely to create little resonance with readers. Intriguing questions remain, such as, how is the building of Saint John's similar to that of other cathedrals? Where have the cutters and carvers of the title gone now that the work is stopped? No one could have anticipated such an end (temporary though it may be) for the cathedral, but it has the effect of sucking the spirit right out of this book. (glossary) (Picture book/nonfiction. 6+)
Pub Date: March 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-688-12056-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1995
It starts off innocently enough, with principal Walter Russ asking artist Florence Waters to sell him a drinking fountain for the Dry Creek Middle School. But art and bureaucracy are about as different as, well, flood and drought, and this book pits such opposites with hilarious results. Town villains Dee Eel (president of Dry Creek Water Company) and Sally Mander (chief executive of the Dry Creek Swimming Pool) absconded with the town's water supply, turning what used to be Spring Creek into Dry Creek. This all gets uncovered by ``Sam N.'s fifth-grade class,'' who is doing a project on the history of the town. What makes this tale an unequivocal delight is that it's told through letter, memos, newspaper clippings, school announcements, and inventive black-and-white drawings; even less-skilled readers will be drawn in by the element of perusing ``other people's mail'' to find out why Spring Creek went dry, and to decode the water-related names of the characters. Florence and her intriguing attitude and art win over the class, Sam, and even the stuffy principal—how she does it is part of a tale overflowing with imagination and fun. (Fiction. 9-13)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-380-97538-6
Page Count: 138
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Gooney Bird Greene (with a silent E) is not your average second grader. She arrives in Mrs. Pidgeon’s class announcing: “I’m your new student and I just moved here from China. I want a desk right smack in the middle of the room, because I like to be right smack in the middle of everything.” Everything about her is unusual and mysterious—her clothes, hairstyles, even her lunches. Since the second graders have never met anyone like Gooney Bird, they want to hear more about her. Mrs. Pidgeon has been talking to the class about what makes a good story, so it stands to reason that Gooney will get her chance. She tells a series of stories that explain her name, how she came from China on a flying carpet, how she got diamond earrings at the prince’s palace, and why she was late for school (because she was directing a symphony orchestra). And her stories are “absolutely true.” Actually, they are explainable and mesh precisely with the teacher’s lesson, more important, they are a clever device that exemplify the elements of good storytelling and writing and also demonstrate how everyone can turn everyday events into stories. Savvy teachers should take note and add this to their shelf of “how a story is made” titles. Gooney Bird’s stories are printed in larger type than the narrative and the black-and-white drawings add the right touch of sauciness (only the cover is in color). A hybrid of Harriet, Blossom, and Anastasia, irrepressible Gooney Bird is that rare bird in children’s fiction: one that instantly becomes an amusing and popular favorite. (Fiction. 6-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-618-23848-4
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Walter Lorraine/Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2002
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