bookshelf

DUMPLING SOUP

Name: DUMPLING SOUP
Author: Jama Kim Rattigan
ISBN: 0-316-73445-4

by Jama Kim Rattigan & illustrated by Lillian Hsu-Flanders ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1993

bookshelf

Each year, the women in Marisa's family, living in the Hawaiian islands, gather to prepare dumplings ("mandoo'') for the New Year's celebration—and this year Marisa is old enough to help. After she's wrapped her dumplings, she worries throughout the New Year's Eve festivities with her large clan (mostly Korean) that they aren't good enough; but then Grandma makes Marisa's dumplings a featured part of the first meal of the new year. It seems grudging to apply words like "didactic'' to such an openhearted exercise in multiculturalism, but the book's packaging—including a publisher's note explaining the importance of diversity—is so insistent that it nearly sinks the capable storytelling and illustration. Still, Rattigan's scenes of bustling domesticity have a cozy immediacy; Hsu-Flanders's watercolors joyfully crowd the small rooms of their Hawaiian home with happy relatives of all sizes, dressed in bright, patterned clothing (though only the narrator's hair style differentiates her from her cousins). Foreign words and phrases are readily decoded from context (except for a few food names); many also appear in a glossary of Hawaiian, Japanese, English, and Korean terms. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1993

ISBN: 0-316-73445-4

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1993

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WOMAN IN THE MOON
by Jama Kim Rattigan & illustrated by Carla Golembe

bookshelf

A DOG NAMED SAM

by Janice Boland & illustrated by G. Brian Karas ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1996

bookshelf

A book that will make young dog-owners smile in recognition and confirm dogless readers' worst suspicions about the mayhem caused by pets, even winsome ones. Sam, who bears passing resemblance to an affable golden retriever, is praised for fetching the family newspaper, and goes on to fetch every other newspaper on the block. In the next story, only the children love Sam's swimming; he is yelled at by lifeguards and fishermen alike when he splashes through every watering hole he can find. Finally, there is woe to the entire family when Sam is bored and lonely for one long night. Boland has an essential message, captured in both both story and illustrations of this Easy-to-Read: Kids and dogs belong together, especially when it's a fun-loving canine like Sam. An appealing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: April 1, 1996

ISBN: 0-8037-1530-7

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Dial Books

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

bookshelf

BERRY MAGIC

by Teri Sloat & Betty Huffman & illustrated by Teri Sloat ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2004

bookshelf

Sloat collaborates with Huffman, a Yu’pik storyteller, to infuse a traditional “origins” tale with the joy of creating. Hearing the old women of her village grumble that they have only tasteless crowberries for the fall feast’s akutaq—described as “Eskimo ice cream,” though the recipe at the end includes mixing in shredded fish and lard—young Anana carefully fashions three dolls, then sings and dances them to life. Away they bound, to cover the hills with cranberries, blueberries, and salmonberries. Sloat dresses her smiling figures in mixes of furs and brightly patterned garb, and sends them tumbling exuberantly through grassy tundra scenes as wildlife large and small gathers to look on. Despite obtrusively inserted pronunciations for Yu’pik words in the text, young readers will be captivated by the action, and by Anana’s infectious delight. (Picture book/folktale. 6-8)