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HOMELESS BIRD

Name: HOMELESS BIRD
Author: Gloria Whelan
ISBN: 0-06-028454-4

by Gloria Whelan ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 31, 2000

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1893

Pub Date: March 31, 2000

ISBN: 0-06-028454-4

Page Count: 250

Publisher: HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1999

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
SUMMER OF THE TREE ARMY
by Gloria Whelan ; illustrated by Kirbi Fagan

- BOOK REVIEW
QUEEN VICTORIA'S BATHING MACHINE
by Gloria Whelan ; illustrated by Nancy Carpenter

- BOOK REVIEW
ALL MY NOBLE DREAMS AND THEN WHAT HAPPENS
by Gloria Whelan

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THE CHANCE BROTHERS RIDE OUTLAW TRAIL

by Trudy C. Hart ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

Worthy for inclusion in studies of pioneer days and the westward expansion of the United States.

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An illustrated children’s western adventure story brings little-known events of the late 1800s into the present day.

The fifth picture book in a series about a pair of young brothers finds Bryn and Bryce Chance celebrating a birthday with a horseback ride across a rocky western trail, as author Hart (The Chance Brothers Ride to the Rescue, 2007, etc.) imagines a new adventure for her own sons in their home territory of northwestern Oklahoma. As they follow Outlaw Trail, named for notorious real-life horse thief and bank robber Dick Yeager, to its end at the outlaw’s alleged cave hideout, the boys experience the region’s landscape and wildlife. Surprises lurk around every turn as the boys and their horses are startled by a turkey, a coyote and fragile canyon edges. Educational opportunities abound in the geological features of the region, and discussion of isinglass is woven into the story, although Hart omits the risk and amazement of climbing a canyon trail. When the narrow trail crumbles, creating a chasm and separating them from their guide, the surprisingly unperturbed boys calmly continue alone and, narrowly escaping a rockslide in the outlaw’s cave, discover with excitement what Yeager left behind. This tale might be of special interest to readers from the region, who may be interested in seeking out this trail and learning about its historical background. The book’s illustrations are bright but rather one-dimensional and appear to be computer-aided. The Chance Brothers will mostly appeal to beginning readers due to the simplicity of the story, though it suffers from a lack of character development. The basis of the story on actual places and events creates opportunities for further reading and discussion by children and adults.

Worthy for inclusion in studies of pioneer days and the westward expansion of the United States.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: 978-1-419-68642-9

Page Count: -

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

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A PICNIC IN OCTOBER

by Eve Bunting ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1999

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Bunting (I Have an Olive Tree, p. 719, etc.) once again explores larger themes through a quiet family story. Every October, on Lady Liberty’s birthday, Tony and his extended family have a picnic on Liberty Island. The family rendezvous at Battery Park to take the ferry out to the island. Waiting in line, Tony, who thinks the picnic is pretty corny, is approached by a woman, obviously a new immigrant. She gestures her alarm when the ferry departs without her; she is soothed when Tony motions that the ferry will return. Once on the island, Tony’s family has the picnic before toasting the statue and blowing kisses to her. Later, Tony spies the woman he had helped earlier, and the way they look up at the statue, “so still, so respectful, so . . . so peaceful, makes me choke up.” This sense of refuge drifts through Bunting’s text, as fundamental and natural an element of life as are the everyday incidentals she braids into the story and all of which are exquisitely caught by Carpenter’s vivid illustrations. (Picture book. 5-10)