by Géraldine Elschner ; illustrated by Giotto ; translated by Kathryn Bishop ; adapted by Martin West ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2015
An exquisite volume of most interest to students of art, church libraries, or large libraries with extensive art collections.
This striking version of the Nativity story is illustrated with reproductions of fresco paintings by the Italian renaissance artist Giotto.
The frescoes were painted in Padua, Italy, in about 1305 and are considered to be Giotto’s masterwork and among the greatest masterpieces of the Early Renaissance. These frescoes tell the story of Mary and Jesus, and portions have been reproduced for this book. They illustrate the familiar story, beginning with the appearance of the angel Gabriel to Mary, continuing through the birth of Jesus, and ending with the flight of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus into Egypt. The illustrations are exquisite from an artistic viewpoint, with finely detailed faces surrounded by golden haloes. The illustrations are set on one page each double-page spread, with the text set opposite in an attractive typeface on ivory paper with a decorative border above. The lyrical text is based on the four Gospels of the New Testament. There are no notes in the book about the sources or development of the text, and there are only a few sentences about Giotto, which is a shame, as further, specific information about the frescoes would have extended the use of the book in library collections.
An exquisite volume of most interest to students of art, church libraries, or large libraries with extensive art collections. (Picture book/religion. 9 & up)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-988-8240-46-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: minedition
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2015
Share your opinion of this book
More by Géraldine Elschner
BOOK REVIEW
by Géraldine Elschner ; illustrated by Anja Klauss
BOOK REVIEW
by Géraldine Elschner ; illustrated by Eve Tharlet ; translated by Kathryn Bishop
BOOK REVIEW
by Géraldine Elschner ; illustrated by Joanna Boillat
by Kathryn Siebel ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 2, 2019
Convincing, humorous, warm, and definitely spooky.
Henry, the new boy in Barbara Anne Klein’s Seattle fifth-grade class, dresses oddly, but that isn’t the strangest thing about him.
Henry and narrator Barbara Anne (or Bitsy as her parents and grandmother call her) bond over their need to escape their assigned lunch table, and Barbara Anne soon discovers the subject of Henry’s absorbed sketching at recess: the boy who seems to be haunting him. Irrepressible, strong-minded Barbara Anne is not always aware of her limitations, and Siebel’s voice for her is both funny and warm. Henry battles a respiratory infection throughout much of the story even as he and Barbara Anne begin to realize that young Edgar, Henry’s ghost, did not survive the Spanish influenza pandemic in 1918. A session with a Ouija board and a letter and yearbook discovered in Henry’s attic tell part of the story. Edgar’s father’s journal, found in the public library archives, reveals the rest. Siebel cleverly weaves together the story of the developing friendships among Barbara Anne and her classmates and the story of Edgar’s friendship with Henry’s neighbor, Edgar’s playmate as a small child and now a very old woman. Henry, Barbara Anne, and Edgar present white; classmate Renee Garcia, who looks forward to eventually celebrating her quinceañera, and Barbara Anne’s teacher, Miss Biniam (“she looks like an Ethiopian princess”) are the only main characters of color.
Convincing, humorous, warm, and definitely spooky. (Ghost story. 9-12)Pub Date: July 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-101-93277-3
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
Share your opinion of this book
More by Kathryn Siebel
BOOK REVIEW
by Kathryn Siebel ; illustrated by Júlia Sardà
by Tom Fletcher ; illustrated by Shane Devries ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 23, 2018
Reads like a grown-up’s over-the-top effort to peddle a set of kid-friendly premises—a notion that worked for the author’s...
A boy asks Santa for a dinosaur and gets a life-changing experience.
Cribbing freely from any number of classic Christmas stories and films, musician/vlogger Fletcher places his 10-year-old protagonist, William, who uses a wheelchair, at the head of an all-white human cast that features his widowed dad, a girl bully, and a maniacal hunter—plus a dinosaur newly hatched from an egg discovered in the North Pole’s ice by Santa’s elves. Having stowed away on Santa’s sleigh, Christmasaurus meets and bonds with William on Christmas Eve, then, fueled by the power of a child’s belief, flies the lad to the North Pole (“It’s somewhere between Imagination and Make-Believe”) for a meeting with the jolly toymaker himself. Upon his return William gets to see the hunter (who turns out to be his uncle) gun down his dad (who survives), blast a plush dinosaur toy to bits, and then with a poster-sized “CRUNCH! GULP!” go down Christmasaurus’ hatch. In the meantime (emphasis on “mean”), after William spots his previously vicious tormenter, Brenda Payne, crying in the bushes, he forgives trespasses that in real life would have had her arrested and confined long ago. Seemingly just for laffs, the author tosses in doggerel-speaking elves (“ ‘If it’s a girl, can we call her Ginny?’ / ‘I think it’s a boy! Look, he’s got a thingy!’ ”) and closes with further lyrics and a list of 10 (secular) things to love about Christmas. Devries adds sugary illustrations or spot art to nearly every spread.
Reads like a grown-up’s over-the-top effort to peddle a set of kid-friendly premises—a notion that worked for the author’s The Dinosaur That Pooped a Planet (2017), but not here. (Fantasy. 9-11)Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-7330-4
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
Share your opinion of this book
More by Tom Fletcher
BOOK REVIEW
by Tom Fletcher ; illustrated by Tom Fletcher
BOOK REVIEW
by Tom Fletcher ; illustrated by Greg Abbott
BOOK REVIEW
by Tom Fletcher ; illustrated by Greg Abbott
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.