Kevin Locke, a Lakota dancer, describes the hoop dance, including the regalia, construction of the hoops, and symbolism of the dance. Contemporary Lakota, accompanied by drummers and vocalists, have revived hoop dancing; dancers perform at powwows and cultural exhibitions, and teach hoop dancing to children to continue the cultural traditions. The authors make clear, as do the full-color photographs, that this art form is a blend of ancient and modern: Locke’s costume includes moccasins beaded by hand in traditional designs, but with modern rubber soles so he doesn’t slip on slick gymnasium floors; his hoops, traditionally made of willow branches, are now made of plastic tubing or rattan; the music may be provided by CD instead of drummers. Both the reverence and high spirits of the dance come through, but only the jacket shows the hoop dancer in motion. Still photos offer a sense of the pattern and difficulty of the movements, but perhaps only a videotape would be able to do the dance justice. (further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: May 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-525-45413-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1999
Two young computer gamers experience some all-too-realistic on-line effects in this irreverent series opener. Tired of being “killed” every 20 minutes playing “Gopher,” Jessica takes her friend Matthew’s advice and logs on to a new web game dubbed “Medieval Madness.” Suddenly she and Matthew are actually in the game, squired through a medieval forest by Dennis, a surfer-dude centaur who shows them the ropes, gives Matthew a magic wand (“ ‘Got it on my last job. I rode around with Harry, this English kid. I forget his last name: Trotter, Rotter. Something like that . . . Bit of a noo-noo, if you know what I mean.’ ”), and sends the young folk racing off to visit Heaven (“ ‘Hey! That looks like Elvis!’ ”), the Other Place (which turns out to be a shopping mall), a dungeon, and finally the Chamber of Secrets, where Merlin the Magician’s evil clone Merlon lurks, plotting to take over the real world by turning it into a global consumer economy. Intrepidly challenging Merlon to a round of “Gopher,” Jessica not only racks up a monumental score, but hacks into her opponent’s character files and dumps them into the Trash. Goodbye bad guy. Shelly adds an occasional lighthearted illustration. Steering clear of both jargon and explicit gore, Kimmel dishes up a fast-paced caper that even clueless adults will enjoy. (Fiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-525-46656-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2000
Dylan fans extant in 1979 when his album Slow Train Coming was released won’t be able to keep his rasping voice out of their heads, but that shouldn’t impair their appreciation, or children’s, of this wonderfully imaginative visualization of the lyrics. The book starts off, logically enough, “in the beginning,” as a painted man stands on the skin of the earth and contemplates animal-shaped constellations in a starry sky. However, readers immediately realize that he’s standing on a photographed potato skin, an apt collage element, and that such combinations of painting and photograph will run through every page. A painted pig appears in the middle of a real bed of hay, while the collage horns of a bull look demonic in a full-bleed spread of brightest red, with a photographed crowd in the stands, and a matador who is offstage except for his brocade-wrapped arms and a wisp of his taunting cape. The images continue in a splendid visual extension of Dylan’s wry wit; children will delight in the chance to supply the final animal’s name themselves. (Picture book. 3-10)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-202005-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999
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