In 1840, Libby and her parents live in Michigan, near a Potawatomi settlement. A young Indian girl (Libby's father calls her ``Fawn'' because she resembles a deer) befriends Libby, who sneaks away to visit Fawn's village while her own mother is giving birth. When the Indians are seized by white militia intent on moving them west, Libby is captured with them. Fawn's father leads his family and Libby in an escape that's notably without drama, returning Libby to her parents; Fawn's family heads north. Whelan's narrative is simple and readable, including a few basic insights into Indian and pioneer life (e.g., the Native Americans occasionally eat dogs). But her plot is languid, while the girls aren't drawn vividly enough to give their friendship much intensity. Gentle b&w illustrations. (Fiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-679-84464-3
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1993
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The illustrator of Karen Hesse’s Come On, Rain! (1999) places Charlip’s (Peanut Butter Party, not reviewed, etc.) rushed young narrator amidst an extended, multicultural family and gives her a book that is recognizably this one, sometimes even open to the same spread. As a clock ticks away in the background, she details her morning routine from first big stretch to schoolward rush, then reels off afternoon and evening tasks that somehow manage to fill every moment until bedtime. (There’s a clock to watch on every page, and multiple clocks on those with many panels.) Often, she’s got the book with her; as often, she leaves it behind. Somehow, she never gets to read it, even though it’s open wide and she’s not even going to an after-school activity. Figures are posed with casual, natural-looking grace; the legibly hand-lettered text alternates between the narrator’s breathless chatter and family members’ antiphonal comments (“WHO LEFT THIS BOOK IN THE FRIDGE?”) slanting across opposite pages. Children might want to share this veteran writer’s oblique, whimsical reminder to slow down and smell the printer’s ink with their overscheduled parents. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 1-58246-018-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Tricycle
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2000
Dreamers and doers both will find inspiration here.
Urging readers to understand that “What you do, / Where you go, / Who you grow / Up to be / Depends on / The steps you take,” these poems profile children trying on shoes for the future.
Tap shoes for Marc; cleats for Clarice; hiking boots; toe shoes; a nurse’s shoes like Dad’s for Kyle; sturdy work boots, and more, always making certain to avoid gender stereotypes. Grimes weaves subtle messages of power through her bright, breezy language—“Still, his boots / Hold him steady / Once he’s ready / To fix / The world.” Or, in the case of African-American “Talisha’s Toe Shoes”: “Someday I’ll dance / The Nutcracker / (My dream too long deferred). / My arabesque / Will be so fine / They’ll redefine the word.” The sunny tone is matched in Widener’s acrylics with round-headed, rubber-limbed children of all ethnicities wearing oversized footgear, exuberantly dancing, skiing, skating, swimming, or (it’s not all about choosing a career) playing.
Dreamers and doers both will find inspiration here. (Picture book/poetry. 7-9)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-531-30286-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2000
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