The son of a wealthy planter in the West Indies, naturalist and frontiersman John James Audubon devoted himself to difficult journeys through American forests, swamps, mountains, and plains in search of plants and animals unknown to science. Rather than telling the story of Audubon’s whole life, Armstrong (co-author, The Kiln, p. 379, etc.) limits her perspective to Audubon’s adventures from 1804 to 1812: the New Madrid earthquake, when “the world rattled and rumbled”; 160 flocks of passenger pigeons taking hours to storm overhead; an immense flock of trumpeter swans in battle with wolves; sharing the inside of a giant sycamore tree with 9,000 swirling swifts; and a chance encounter with Daniel Boone (though this may not have happened). Armstrong and Smith make a great team in this immensely likable biographical profile. The watercolor art, embellished with pencil, watercolor pencil, and pen and ink, is dramatic and a perfect complement to the vivid prose, as is the artwork by Audubon himself. Though the ending seems abrupt, long and interesting notes from both author and artist offer further information and guide readers to additional resources. The text, based on Audubon’s personal diaries, is supplemented by research in the resources cited. Smith (Elwood and the Witch, 2000, etc.) offers interesting insights about the artwork, including a fascinating tidbit about Audubon’s ability to paint two-handed, as portrayed early in the volume. An excellent example of what picture-book biography can be. (Picture book/biography. 5-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-8109-4238-0
Page Count: 38
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2003
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books.
Curious about the Big Wide World outside his Sasquatch community, Hugo makes a friend who is of it.
Sasquatch Hugo’s bedroom is inside a cave and possesses the charming feature of a small stream running through it that he can sail his little toy boat on. It’s cool, but he yearns to see the Big Wide World. When he asks his smart friend Gigi if a Sasquatch might become a sailor, she says it’s possible but would be difficult—the primary rule of their people is to not be seen by Humans. Then, in everyone’s favorite Hide and Go Sneak class, which is held outside, a Human appears; Hugo laughs at the sight, drawing Human attention in a taboo-breaking mistake. Shortly after, Hugo’s toy boat floats into the cave with a Human toy—soon, it’s facilitating a pen-pal–type relationship that’s derailed when Hugo confesses to being a Sasquatch and Human Boone, a budding cryptozoologist, doesn’t believe him. How Hugo and Boone resolve this misapprehension and become friends in a joint search for the Ogopogo concludes this series opener. Potter keeps the third-person narrative tightly focused on Hugo’s perspective, and the details she uses to flesh out the Sasquatch world are delightfully playful. Sala’s drawings depict a homey Sasquatch cavern community, Boone as a freckled, white boy, and Hugo as a hairily benevolent behemoth.
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books. (final art unseen) (Fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2859-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
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