Winter's (Klara's New World, 1992, etc.) story about Captain Herman and his ship filled with Christmas trees is based on the true story of Herman Schuenemann. In 1887, Schuenemann began bringing Christmas trees from Michigan to Chicago on his fishing schooner, and he continued to do so every winter until he was lost in a storm on Lake Michigan in 1912. But his wife and daughters continued in his footsteps. Winter sticks pretty close to the facts here. There's no pussy-footing around Captain Herman's disappearance, although it's not dwelt on. The story, however, takes a back seat to Winter's wonderfully naãve illustrations. Captain Herman appears as the archetypical fisherman, storms rage in swirls of polka-dot snow, and the women's Christmas Tree Ship is resplendent in its wreaths and candles as it sails into Chicago on deep purple waters. The holiday spirit lives in this beautiful rendering. (Historical fiction/Picture book. 4+)
Pub Date: Oct. 6, 1994
ISBN: 0-399-22693-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Rylant's debut as a picture book illustrator (not to be confused with her board book debut as a collagist in The Everyday Books, 1993) offers sweet comfort to all who have lost loved ones, pets or otherwise. ``When dogs go to Heaven, they don't need wings because God knows that dogs love running best. He gives them fields. Fields and fields and fields.'' There are geese to bark at, plenty of children, biscuits, and, for those that need them, homes. In page- filling acrylics, small, simply brushed figures float against huge areas of bright colors: pictures infused with simple, doggy joy. At the end, an old man leans on a cane as he walks up a slope toward a small white dog: ``Dogs in Dog Heaven may stay as long as they like. . . .They will be there when old friends show up. They will be there at the door.'' Pure, tender, lyrical without being overearnest, and deeply felt. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-590-41701-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Blue Sky/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1995
In Brown's swashbuckling watercolors, Boris is tough indeed — hirsute, craggy, grim — but then, "All pirates are tough." As Fox's text succinctly points out, he's also "massive," "scruffy," "greedy," and "fearless," all qualities demonstrated in the illustrations as he seizes a violin from one of his crew, threatens the whole ugly lot after it's been purloined (readers will know that the stowaway boy, who earlier watched while the pirates buried their treasure, is the real culprit). The "scary" pirates catch the boy but soften when they hear him play; and when Boris's parrot dies, the boy helps him put it in the violin case for burial at sea and Boris cries and cries — "All pirates cry." These pirates also let the boy keep the violin when they row him home. Kids are sure to enjoy puzzling out the real story from the pictures, to which, in the end, the text's childlike stereotyping makes an amusing contrast. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-15-289612-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1994
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