Writing in a form that falls somewhere between free verse and rhymed prose, Yolen continues her tour of world ecosystems (Welcome to the Green House, 1993, etc.) with a catalogue of flora and fauna in Florida’s Everglades. As in the previous “Welcomes,” Regan not only portrays each leaf and creature in exact, natural detail, but expertly captures a sense of place, strongly conveying the light, the sky at different times of day, even the look and feel of the air. Though the artist does not directly depict the violence that threads through Yolen’s narrative—an osprey “with dagger beak and nail, / guts a fish / from head to tail,” a red belly turtle “comes too close— / and is alligator dinner,” a kite is “alert for the snail / which it breaks with its beak,” and so on—these two again have collaborated on an effective consciousness raiser for younger children, as evocative as it is informative. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-399-23221-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
Molly and Ben live in the same two family house, wear identical shirts to school, sit together in the lunch room, and, since their birthdays are only five days apart, share a single party every year. It’s a beautiful friendship that hits the rocks when they can’t agree on the kind of tent to buy with their collective savings. After nearly a week of not speaking, they reluctantly agree to have their party “for the sake of the grown-ups,” and discover that they’ve both spent all their money buying each other sleeping bags. Rift mended, they camp out together that night in the yard. In realistic, golden-toned watercolors, Soman artfully captures his young characters (one of whom is African-American) passing through annoyance, anger, regret, and loneliness before moving back to contentment. Conflict resolution is a common theme, but it’s rare and refreshing to see children work out their differences on their own, without adult advice. (Picture book. 6-7)
Pub Date: May 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-8037-1559-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1998
Aimed at readers of Douglas Florian's A Potter (1991) and A Painter (1993), and with just enough detail to hint at etching's challenges and possibilities, Geisert (Roman Numerals: I to MM, 1996, etc.) takes an opportunity to showcase nautical and jungle scenes as well as his more familiar rural views and pigs. A young narrator works with his grandfather in a spacious loft, printing and hand-coloring an array of etchings for a sale. As a book illustrator specializing in this 500-year-old technique, Geisert makes the perfect guide. The furniture and equipment depicted in the full-page and double-page etchings are modeled on his own, and the feelings at several stages of production—from the anxiety of properly timing the printing plate's acid bath to the daydream-inducing tedium of hand- coloring—are unmistakably based on personal experience. A labeled view of the studio precedes a final spread showing each step in an etching's creation. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: April 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-395-79754-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1997
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