Gitl, the youngest in her Jewish family, looks forward to escaping the pogroms and persecution of Czarist Russia. After eldest son Shmuel (now Sammy) spends two years in the States, the family joins him, following a long journey by cart, foot, train and ship. Facing pages tell the story of Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and the creation of the Statue of Liberty. Arriving in New York Harbor, the sight of the welcoming great lady encourages Gitl to choose a new uniquely American name for herself: Libby, short for Liberty. Yolen’s graceful text and Burke’s illustrations balance the events and emotions of the parallel stories. Oil-painted panels in deep browns, greens and grays depict bearded Eastern village Jews against the modern cities of Paris and New York. The two Atlantic crossings come together in one New York Harbor view of the copper Statue, symbolizing the unifying themes of new ideas, freedom and the opportunity for a fresh start. (Picture book. 6-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-399-24250-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2008
It’s 1775 and the people of North Carolina want freedom from England’s rule, but “[w]hen sixteen-year-old Betsy Dowdy heard Papa talk about war approaching, she felt as helpless as a ghost crab skittering along the sand.” The legendary Betsy of Currituck (her existence has never been proven) isn’t helpless, though. She promptly saddles up her pony Bess and rides all night—50 miles over hill and dale—to warn General Skinner’s militia about the incoming redcoats. In what may be the most Fauvist depiction of colonial America ever, Priceman’s splendidly untamed gouache-and-ink spreads reflect the menacing inevitability of war with fiery oranges and the red-cloaked Betsy’s phantasmagorical nighttime ride in deep blues and purples. Perspectives are distorted, buildings topsy-turvy, eyes of human and beast are wild and wide—even the sharp-toothed river fish look agitated, as in a crazy nightmare. The muddled story—more odd, atmospheric drama than history lesson—may just end up unsettling readers, though, despite the trumpeting clarity of its made-for-radio-voice refrain: “She couldn’t fight as a soldier. But she could ride.” (stylized map, author’s note) (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 31, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4169-2816-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Readers won’t find this neighbor strange; he merely entertains an age-old desire to fly. But hark back a 120 years, when this story takes place, and one can begin to appreciate the skeptics who surround Melville Murrell, technically the creator of the first human-powered airplane two decades before the Wright brothers. To the narrator, it’s strange that “our neighbor” studies birds, makes drawings, and tries to be airborne. The title sentence becomes a bleating refrain, turning the book into a one-kick joke when Murrell’s contraption flies and the narrator is almost rendered speechless. Krudop’s paintings, with their great slabs of vibrant color, are atmospheric delights, conjuring up Murrell as the eccentric his neighbors believe him to be, and the era as one in which innovators were no more appreciated—at least till they struck it rich—than they are today. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-531-30107-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
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