Both busy and meandering, but readers may like the dancing Cossack bears.
Brett applies her signature visual storytelling style to the Christmas favorite.
By setting her tale in a snowy, 19th-century Russian city and including in her trademark marginal vignettes both golden musical staves crowded with notes and animal instrumentalists clad in traditional Russian attire, Brett situates this retelling in Tchaikovsky’s ballet rather than Hoffman’s original story, though she retains Hoffman’s names. And as the ballet does, Brett crams her stage with characters, beginning with the Christmas party when Drosselmeier presents Marie with the Nutcracker and continuing through the battle with the Mouse King to Marie and the Nutcracker’s visit to what is here called the land of the Snow Princess. Once there, anthropomorphic Russian animals replace the ethnically stereotyped sweets of the ballet, with arctic foxes, flying squirrels, and hedgehogs taking turns in a snowy wonderland. Like the plot of the ballet, not much makes sense under close examination; unlike the ballet, Brett’s figures display very little movement, so hemmed in are they. Even compositions with relatively few figures feel crowded with decorative detail and superfluous tiny animals, so much so that readers may need to work hard to parse meaning. Despite its adherence to the plot of the ballet, this is not a particularly good preparation for it, but readers already familiar with it may enjoy taking in Brett’s vision. All human characters present White. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Both busy and meandering, but readers may like the dancing Cossack bears. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-10982-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
Readers will agree that “Melba Doretta Liston was something special.” (Picture book. 4-8)
Bewitched by the rhythms of jazz all around her in Depression-era Kansas City, little Melba Doretta Liston longs to make music in this fictional account of a little-known jazz great.
Picking up the trombone at 7, the little girl teaches herself to play with the support of her Grandpa John and Momma Lucille, performing on the radio at 8 and touring as a pro at just 17. Both text and illustrations make it clear that it’s not all easy for Melba; “The Best Service for WHITES ONLY” reads a sign in a hotel window as the narrative describes a bigotry-plagued tour in the South with Billie Holiday. But joy carries the day, and the story ends on a high note, with Melba “dazzling audiences and making headlines” around the world. Russell-Brown’s debut text has an innate musicality, mixing judicious use of onomatopoeia with often sonorous prose. Morrison’s sinuous, exaggerated lines are the perfect match for Melba’s story; she puts her entire body into her playing, the exaggerated arch of her back and thrust of her shoulders mirroring the curves of her instrument. In one thrilling spread, the evening gown–clad instrumentalist stands over the male musicians, her slide crossing the gutter while the back bow disappears off the page to the left. An impressive discography complements a two-page afterword and a thorough bibliography.
Readers will agree that “Melba Doretta Liston was something special.” (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-60060-898-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
This book sings.
Hamilton star Soo’s debut picture book centers on a young girl confronting stage fright.
Piper Chen twirls through her days with her mouth wide open. When Mr. Harris, her music teacher, asks Piper if she’d like to sing a solo in the Spring Sing, she immediately answers, “Yes!” But later, she finds herself frozen during practice. Later, Piper’s grandmother Nǎi Nai notices that Piper isn’t singing, and Piper explains about the solo and the butterflies in her stomach. Nǎi Nai understands and explains that she experienced “húdié” (Chinese for butterflies) at her first piano recital. They also visited whenever something exciting was ahead, like when she left China for America, when she graduated from music school, and when she became a U.S. citizen. “Now, when they greet me, I greet them back. ‘Hello, húdié. Nǐ hǎo.’” The night of the show, Piper feels the butterflies flapping their wings. She hums to herself, “Hello, húdié” and sings. Soo and Pasquale Doran sensitively capture the anxiety of performing and draw parallels with other life changes while giving readers a concrete tool for addressing those butterflies. Leng’s delicate, expressive ink, watercolor, and oil pastel illustrations capture Piper’s enthusiasm and uncertainty as well as Nǎi Nai’s loving warmth, working seamlessly with the text in vignettes and full spreads. Piper Chen and Nǎi Nai are Chinese American; Mr. Harris is brown-skinned.
This book sings. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9780593564691
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House Studio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
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