MADAME SONIA DELAUNAY

Name: MADAME SONIA DELAUNAY
Author: Gérard Lo Monaco
ISBN: 978-1-84976-334-9

by Gérard Lo Monaco ; adapted by Abigail Grater ; illustrated by Sonia Delaunay ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 31, 2015

Children who want to know more (i.e., anything) about Delaunay’s life or artistic context will have to look elsewhere, but...

bookshelf

This small but fulsome tribute to the underrecognized artist/designer pairs pop-up versions of many of her semiabstract works with fanciful interpretive notes.

Adding a third dimension to the strong shapes and loud colors that characterize Sonia Delaunay’s compositions suits them nicely. Examples range from a gatefolded array of tiny figures sporting costume designs to large assemblages of interlocking circles or other geometric shapes. These float over plain backgrounds on which, often, the cutouts that make up the next spread’s offering have been left exposed. Most of the selections bear indeterminate labels, but Grater (“inspired” by the French edition’s original text) offers comments that provide playful images—as alternatives for the wriggly lines of Untitled, 1948, for instance: “Harsh moustaches and slithering snakes? That is simply frightful! / Sticky worms and ocean waves? That’s much more delightful!” (Her commentary also drifts arbitrarily in and out of forced rhyme.) Possibly more usefully, on two spreads Lo Monaco places smaller pop-ups of later variations as invitations to notice and ruminate on the effects of similarities and differences.

Children who want to know more (i.e., anything) about Delaunay’s life or artistic context will have to look elsewhere, but this bonbon should leave a taste for further enquiry. (thumbnail index includes media and locations) (Pop-up art book. 6-10)

Pub Date: March 31, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-84976-334-9

Page Count: 18

Publisher: Tate Publishing

Review Posted Online: March 31, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2015

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
THE CAROUSEL OF ANIMALS
by Gérard Lo Monaco ; illustrated by Gérard Lo Monaco

- BOOK REVIEW
THE SMALL WORLD OF PAPER TOYS
by Gérard Lo Monaco ; illustrated by Gérard Lo Monaco ; translated by Noelia Hobeika

bookshelf

BOOKMARKS ARE PEOPLE TOO!

From the Here's Hank series , Vol. 1

by Henry Winkler ; Lin Oliver ; illustrated by Scott Garrett ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 14, 2014

An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda.

bookshelf

Hank Zipzer, poster boy for dyslexic middle graders everywhere, stars in a new prequel series highlighting second-grade trials and triumphs.

Hank’s hopes of playing Aqua Fly, a comic-book character, in the upcoming class play founder when, despite plenty of coaching and preparation, he freezes up during tryouts. He is not particularly comforted when his sympathetic teacher adds a nonspeaking role as a bookmark to the play just for him. Following the pattern laid down in his previous appearances as an older child, he gets plenty of help and support from understanding friends (including Ashley Wong, a new apartment-house neighbor). He even manages to turn lemons into lemonade with a quick bit of improv when Nick “the Tick” McKelty, the sneering classmate who took his preferred role, blanks on his lines during the performance. As the aforementioned bully not only chokes in the clutch and gets a demeaning nickname, but is fat, boastful and eats like a pig, the authors’ sensitivity is rather one-sided. Still, Hank has a winning way of bouncing back from adversity, and like the frequent black-and-white line-and-wash drawings, the typeface is designed with easy legibility in mind.

An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda. (Fiction. 7-9)

Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-448-48239-2

Page Count: 128

Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap

Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
DETECTIVE DUCK
by Henry Winkler & Lin Oliver ; illustrated by Dan Santat

- BOOK REVIEW
THE CASE OF THE MISSING TADPOLE
by Henry Winkler & Lin Oliver ; illustrated by Dan Santat

- BOOK REVIEW
THE CASE OF THE STRANGE SPLASH
by Henry Winkler & Lin Oliver ; illustrated by Dan Santat

bookshelf

THE JUNKYARD WONDERS

by Patricia Polacco & illustrated by Patricia Polacco ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2010

bookshelf

Trisha is ready to start at a new school, where no one will know she has dyslexia. At first, she is heartbroken to be in Miss Peterson’s special-ed class, aka, “the junkyard.” But Miss Peterson treats the children as anything but junk, showing them that everyone has a unique talent. Polacco’s trademark style is fully present here; her sensitively drawn alter ego shines with depth of feeling. When bullying occurs, Miss Peterson proves her students are worthwhile by planning a junkyard field trip, where they find valuable objects to be used in exciting ways. Trisha’s group repairs a plane, and the class buys an engine for it. Then a beloved class member dies, and the children must find a way to honor him. While the plot meanders somewhat, the characters are appealing, believable and provide a fine portrayal of a truly special class. Children will be drawn in by the story’s warmth and gentle humor and will leave with a spark of inspiration, an appreciation of individual differences and a firm anti-bullying message, all underscored by the author’s note that concludes the book. (Picture book. 7-10)