The surpassing good news here is that three of Griffith’s four estimable chapter books about Janetta and her Grandaddy (Grandaddy’s Stars, 1995, etc.) are again available to delight “readers” who are read-to, young readers themselves, and more than a few older readers. Again, Grandaddy’s homespun wisdom initiates Janetta into the mysteries of fish-talk and leads her to name the mule at his red-dirt farm when she first visits. On her second visit, it encourages her in flights of tall-tale imagination, approves her creative abilities (she dances to his mouth-organ music “better than the bugs”), plus he finds the perfect answer to what to name the totally unexpected kittens by sending her favorite home with her. Finally, when he visits them in Baltimore, he finds the perfect responses to her planned sightseeing stops at school and playground. The only title missing in this three-in-one reprint is the more somber Georgia Music (1986), an omission understandable in achieving a cohesive reprint collection. The bad news? Stevenson’s delightful watercolors appear in black and white, effectively reducing what were charmingly antic, beautifully complementary illustrations for a captivatingly droll text to advanced thumbnails. Something vital has been eliminated from the illustrative stew, but the ironically ebullient text survives. This intergenerational relationship continues to shine unsentimentally but affectingly. If you’re charge of read-tos or are just seeking a good read and you missed this duo before, run—do not walk—to your bookseller or library and get to know Grandaddy and Janetta. (Fiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2001
ISBN: 0-06-029148-6
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2000
Lunge-Larsen and Preus debut with this story of a flower that blooms for the first time to commemorate the uncommon courage of a girl who saves her people from illness. The girl, an Ojibwe of the northern woodlands, knows she must journey to the next village to get the healing herb, mash-ki- ki, for her people, who have all fallen ill. After lining her moccasins with rabbit fur, she braves a raging snowstorm and crosses a dark frozen lake to reach the village. Then, rather than wait for morning, she sets out for home while the villagers sleep. When she loses her moccasins in the deep snow, her bare feet are cut by icy shards, and bleed with every step until she reaches her home. The next spring beautiful lady slippers bloom from the place where her moccasins were lost, and from every spot her injured feet touched. Drawing on Ojibwe sources, the authors of this fluid retelling have peppered the tale with native words and have used traditional elements, e.g., giving voice to the forces of nature. The accompanying watercolors, with flowing lines, jewel tones, and decorative motifs, give stately credence to the story’s iconic aspects. (Picture book/folklore. 4-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-90512-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1999
This vibrant, thoughtful book from Katz (Over the Moon, 1997) continues her tribute to her adopted daughter, Lena, born in Guatemala. Lena is “seven. I am the color of cinnamon. Mom says she could eat me up”; she learns during a painting lesson that to get the color brown, she will have to “mix red, yellow, black, and white paints.” They go for a walk to observe the many shades of brown: they see Sonia, who is the color of creamy peanut butter; Isabella, who is chocolate brown; Lucy, both peachy and tan; Jo-Jin, the color of honey; Kyle, “like leaves in fall”; Mr. Pellegrino, the color of pizza crust, golden brown. Lena realizes that every shade is beautiful, then mixes her paints accordingly for portraits of her friends—“The colors of us!” Bold illustrations celebrate diversity with a child’s open-hearted sensibility and a mother’s love. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8050-5864-8
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1999
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