by Jeanne Harvey & illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2011
The interplay of poetic and visual metaphor makes for a striking presentation; adults who can appreciate and chant the...
Harvey presents an imagined first-person narrative in the form of a blues poem by master collage artist Bearden.
Romare muses from his New York studio, conjuring his train journey as a 3-year-old with his parents, from North Carolina to Harlem during the Great Migration from the south to the north. In a note, Harvey comments that Bearden drew analogies between his artistic process and jazz improvisation, which fuels her approach. Drawing inspiration from the artist’s collage Watching the Good Trains Go By (reproduced within), 14 of Harvey’s 21 verses focus on the trip, from tearful goodbyes with great-grandparents to the onomatopoeia of the train’s sounds and the chance sights rolling by. “I spy a woman by a washtub, stirring, staring up at me. / I wonder what she’s thinking, staring up at me. / Maybe that tomorrow so far away I’ll be.” The talented Zunon’s pictures intriguingly combine realistic faces, stylized landscapes and photo-collage that pays homage to Bearden’s art. Facial images are potentially a bit confusing: The adult Bearden could be mistaken for a teenager, while the preschooler making his first train trip seems more circumspect than a 3-year-old might be.
The interplay of poetic and visual metaphor makes for a striking presentation; adults who can appreciate and chant the bluesy poem as well as sensitively interpret the pictures together with children are the ideal collaborators in savoring this intriguing work. (author’s note, source notes, resources) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7614-5810-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2011
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by Lisa Bowes ; illustrated by James Hearne ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 3, 2019
It’s a slam dunk
Lucy discovers that the way to learn to play basketball is with friends on a neighborhood court.
Lucy loves playing in the park, and one day she and her friends join their friend Ava and her cousin in their new favorite sport: basketball. Pro player Jermaine, aka “Coach J,” teaches all the basics—footwork, quick passes, dribbling, and a variety of shots. But he also encourages the players to keep trying when they miss, stresses the value of teamwork, and focuses on fun as they learn and later play a practice game. At the end of the workout, Coach J invites the young players to watch him and his team play. Written in loose rhyming couplets, the text has many near rhymes and inconsistent meter. While the storyline is predictable, the book is a good introduction to basketball terms, and young basketball players and fans will appreciate reading about themselves. Vivid silhouetted figures against a white background portray male and female players of several races; Lucy herself is white while Ava and Coach J are black. One young player competes from a wheelchair. A half page of backmatter explains the history of basketball, the NBA and its players, and wheelchair basketball, and one entry also explains the three-on-three basketball that the children play. The book publishes in a simultaneous French edition translated by Rachel Martinez.
It’s a slam dunk . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4598-1697-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
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by Valeri Gorbachev ; illustrated by Valeri Gorbachev ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2016
An early reader that kids will want to befriend.
In an odd-couple pairing of Bear and Chipmunk, only one friend is truly happy to spend the day at the beach.
“Not me!” is poor Chipmunk’s lament each time Bear expresses the pleasure he takes in sunning, swimming, and other activities at the beach. While controlled, repetitive text makes the story accessible to new readers, slapstick humor characterizes the busy watercolor-and-ink illustrations and adds interest. Poor Chipmunk is pinched by a crab, buried in sand, and swept upside down into the water, to name just a few mishaps. Although other animal beachgoers seem to notice Chipmunk’s distress, Bear cheerily goes about his day and seems blithely ignorant of his friend’s misfortunes. The playful tone of the illustrations helps soften the dynamic so that it doesn’t seem as though Chipmunk is in grave danger or that Bear is cruel. As they leave at the end of the book Bear finally asks, “Why did you come?” and Chipmunk’s sweet response caps off the day with a warm sunset in the background.
An early reader that kids will want to befriend. (Early reader. 5-7)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3546-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2015
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