When Great-uncle Benson roars in on his motorcycle for a long visit, ten-year-old Rachel discovers a soul mate: he listens to her, cares about the things she cares about, and, like her, treats everyone, adult or child, with intelligent respect. He's disturbed, though, that Rachel's family doesn't have sit-down dinners—''How in the world can you have a family, if you don't have family dinner?'' Benson whips up a series of tempting concoctions, and Rachel persuades her parents, and her older brother and sister, to give the custom a try. Cutler infuses her story with the same friendly domestic air that Patricia Maclachlan brings to her writing. The characters here (with the notable exception of the Mrs. Malaprop of a housekeeper—``It's as plain as the nose on your plate'') aren't as eccentric as those in, say, Unclaimed Treasures (1984), but they're distinct and believable, with stories of their own. The experimental meal is a total failure, but the plot takes a gentle twist at the end when Benson, Rachel, and a group of friends and neighbors sit down together the next day over leftovers, proving that the sociability of family-style dinners can survive, even if not in a particular family. Caswell's precise soft-pencil illustrations are unusually perceptive and creatively staged to dramatize relationships. (Fiction. 10-13)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-374-32267-8
Page Count: 117
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1991
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A visually appealing, informative companion to Scaly Babies: Reptiles Growing Up (1988) describes the life cycles of five amphibians, including salamanders, frogs, and toads. Johnston stresses the environmental importance of the more than 4,000 amphibian species and their role in nature's balance. Known for their thin, moist skin, most live on land but return to the water to lay their jellylike eggs. Color photos of the vivid red poison dart frog and strands of toad eggs, like long stands of black pearls, are especially intriguing. Scientific names, size, and range not included. Glossary; index. (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Aug. 14, 1991
ISBN: 0-688-09605-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1991
BOOK REVIEW
A first novel contrived around the credulous inhabitants of a medieval village battling an imaginary dragon that represents their own fears; unfortunately, Ellis's style and plotting are not skillful enough to realize her theme's potential. Protagonist Kate, 13, has unusual hopes: interested in healing, she'd like to be apprenticed to the apothecary and to learn to read. These ambitions are interrupted by rumors of a dragon in the dreaded forest; greedy treasure-seekers, the normally rational, and the gullible are all caught up in the furor and set out to battle what is really a series of violent thunderstorms and consequent fires. Kate sneaks along, taking some ``magic'' unicorn horn powder that, hurled at the crucial moment in the battle, ``causes'' a downpour that puts the fire out. There follows a misty, dreamlike vision of a unicorn, confirming everyone's belief that Kate has performed heroically. Though the story moves along smoothly, it has a generic quality: no particular time or place, stock characters, predictable images. Most disappointing, the potent symbol of the dragon isn't really explored; a wise old herb woman tells Kate that sometime in the future people may ``no longer be in terror of dragons. Then they can struggle against other evils.'' But what those are, or why fighting the imaginary dragon is itself an evil, is never suggested. Acceptable as undemanding fare. (Fiction. 10-13)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1991
ISBN: 0-8050-1713-5
Page Count: 180
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1991
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