Longfellow’s familiar verse comes to splendid life in dynamic paintings. Santore (Stowaway on Noah’s Ark, not reviewed, etc.) chooses to tell his tale as a story-within-a-story, as Longfellow did. He begins by placing Longfellow’s narrator, the landlord of the Wayside Inn, in his Windsor chair by the fireplace. All of his illustrations are full-bleed double-paged spreads, with the text in boxes. Darkling colors by firelight, candlelight, and moonlight display images of great movement and action: readers look into the belfry of the Old North Church from below the bells, they can almost hear the sound of Revere’s horse’s hooves on the cobblestones or the wooden bridge. Dramatic perspectives—above, below, beneath—create images of great force, matching the propulsive sound of the poetry. All of the figures seem to be in motion: soldiers, townspeople, and Revere himself, square-jawed and determined. “It was twelve by the village clock, / When he crossed the bridge into Medford town. / He heard the crowing of the cock, / And the barking of the farmer’s dog . . . ” Looking down on this scene from above that clock: the barking dog, men barefoot, but bearing muskets, the swirl of Revere’s cloak and the jittery shadows make a powerful picture. In all, a very different experience from the quieter drama of Monica Vachula’s Ride (above). (artist’s note) (Picture book/poetry. 7-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-688-16552-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2003
Lightning doesn’t strike twice for the award-winning team of So You Want To Be President? (2000). Seeking to inspire young readers who like to “tinker with machines that clink and clank, levers that pull, bells that ring, cogs that grind, switches that turn on and off, wires that vibrate, dials that spin,” St. George reels off anecdotal, relentlessly exclamatory introductions to dozens of American and European inventors, from Gutenberg to Goodyear, George Washington to Clarence Birdseye. All of them, however, are dead, only three are women, and only two are nonwhite, so though their paths to success were diverse, as role models the people mentioned here make a limited gallery. Small mixes impressionistic renditions of featured inventions with freely drawn caricatures of their creators. As the overall visual tone is genial—even Joseph Guillotin is depicted proudly polishing his eponymous device as an anxious-looking matron is being positioned on it—the grim scene of ranked slaves feeding Whitney’s cotton gin brings a sudden dissonance that pays no more than lip service to the less salutary effects of the industrial revolution. The author finishes with an exhortation to break barriers that children of different cultural or racial backgrounds (not to mention girls) may find unconvincing, considering the examples offered, and closes with biographical notes on some—not all—of the names she’s dropped in the main text. The brief bibliography is a list of what may charitably be described as classic titles. Will this give some budding inventors that fire in the belly? Perhaps—but not as reliably as Don Wulffson’s Toys! Amazing Stories Behind Some Great Inventions (2000) or Nathan Aaseng’s thematic collective biographies. (Nonfiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-399-23593-0
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2002
“Inside the dark cave, the huge bear reared up on its hind legs and snarled, revealing long, pointed teeth . . . ” So says the blurb, but in the text, the author states: “ . . . experts have concluded that for all their massive bodies, long claws, and pointed canine teeth . . . cave bears were mostly plant-eaters.” Readers lured into this title by the ferocious cover illustration may come to a screeching halt when they catch sight of the densely packed text inside. In some cases, this text is almost impossible to read, overwhelmed by the background art. The author describes conditions on earth before, during, and after the last Ice Age, and explores the evolution of bears from the tiny squirrel-like Miacis that lived 30-40 million years ago, to the modern polar bear, American black bear, and the giant panda. In between, she tries to make the subject come alive, with mini-dramas about the ancient cave bear and early humans that may have feared, hunted, and revered them. More questions than answers here, and the organization is confusing. Fussy format makes ideas hard to follow. For example, some text appears on torn tan paper, some text appears superimposed on cave paintings, some is interrupted with odd boxes, like “Into the Dragon’s Lair,” which recounts tales of dragons that may actually be bones of the cave bear. Includes a brief glossary, index, further reading, and picture credits. This large-size potboiler is strictly marginal. (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-375-81329-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2002
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