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
"From the beginning the baby was a disappointment to her mother," Cooney (The Story of Christmas, 1995, etc.) begins in this biography of Eleanor Roosevelt. She is a plain child, timid and serious; it is clear that only a few people loved her. After her parents die, she is cared for in the luxurious homes of wealthy relatives, but does not find acceptance until she arrives in a British boarding school, where she thrives on the attention of the headmistress, who guides, teaches, and inspires her. Cooney does not gloss over the girl's misery and disappointments; she also shows the rare happy times and sows the seeds of Eleanor's future work. The illustrations of house interiors often depict Eleanor as an isolated, lonely figure, her indistinct face and hollow eyes watching from a distance the human interactions she does not yet enjoy. Paintings reveal the action of a steamship collision; the hectic activity of a park full of children and their governesses; a night full of stars portending the girl's luminous future. The image of plain Eleanor being fitted with her first beautiful dress is an indelible one. Readers will be moved by the unfairness of her early life and rejoice when she finds her place in the world. An author's note supplies other relevant information. (Picture book/biography. 5-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-670-86159-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
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