A slim volume of seven stories, ranging from shivery to downright chilling, meant to be told or read aloud. Del Negro uses traditional folklore motifs in these brief tales, but grounds them in precise language. There’s a version of “Mr. Fox” called “The Severed Hand” and an inventive use of The Green Man figure in the last story, “Hide and Seek.” There, a mean girl called Little Debbie gets her scary comeuppance. In the “Sea Child,” a mourning mother rescues a lost babe with the help of its ghostly mother; in “Rosie Hopewell,” a drunken and abusive father gets his due, possibly from a drowned kitten. The language is cadenced and carefully chosen, and Natale’s black-and-white illustrations are properly spectral and modestly elegant. Teens young and old will enjoy these gothic tales. (Short stories/horror. 12-15)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-7614-5361-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Characterizing Ellington as ``perhaps the most important figure in American music of the 20th century,'' the author looks at the composer's personality and career, focusing especially on his musical strengths and weaknesses. Collier, who has written several books on the history of jazzincluding a longer one on the Dukeclaims that Ellington didn't have the discipline to study either his instrument or music theory and that consequently he never became a brilliant pianist, while his longer compositions lacked cohesive structure. He did have a gifted ear, however, and, in working out musical ideas with his band (his preferred method of composition), he developed a fresh, unique, instantly recognizable sound that led to a long string of hits and standards. Collier succumbs occasionally to Jazz Historians' Diseasetedious recitation of names and personnel changesbut he makes clear what most of the musicians who played with Ellington contributed in the way of special techniques or abilities, while his musical analyses are easy to follow. Brief bibliography and discography. Index not seen. (Biography. 12-15)
Pub Date: Sept. 30, 1991
ISBN: 0-02-722985-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1991
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Sixteen new, wonderfully diverse takes on the ``Dream Time,'' all by authors who have been honored by the Australian Book Council. The borders of reality shift here to reveal figures from the past (Gillian Rubenstein's ``Dolphin Dreaming'') or future (Lee Harding's ``Night of Passage''), spirits angelic (``Silent Reporter,'' by Frank Willmott) or otherwise (Victor Kelleher's ``River Serpent''), and, most of all, the power of dreams (John Marsden's ``Dreamer''; Emily Rodda's ``Zelda''). Change is another common theme: growing up, losing traditions (Christobel Mattingley and Thurley Fowler contribute angry stories about the latter), or trying to recapture the past. Patricia Wrightson's bittersweet ``You Can't Keep a Unicorn'' and Mary Steele's hilarious ``Aunt Millicent'' (about a very real, yet imaginary, relative) cap this uncommonly rich collection. (Short Stories. 12-15)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1991
ISBN: 0-395-57434-X
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1991
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