A must-have for young military enthusiasts.
“A is for Army” in Pallotta’s latest alphabet book, co-written with a Navy spouse.
Each letter of the alphabet introduces interesting information and detailed insight into all aspects of the Army using brief yet descriptive paragraphs. Did you know helicopters are named after Native American people and tribes or that GI stands for government issue, referring to anything connected with the Army: blankets, batteries, rucksacks etc.? A multitude of topics are covered: weapons, aircraft and vessels, the infantry, regiments, and more. The recurring theme of the Army values—loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage—is reinforced throughout even as the book accurately conveys the life of diverse Army soldiers and the scope of their responsibilities and career paths, including medics, paratroopers, special forces, and more. Bolster’s mixed-media illustrations take center stage on single- and double-page spreads. Photorealism vies with photographs to keep readers guessing as to exactly what they are looking at; an illustration of troops in various conveyances advancing in front of a giant camouflage chess queen is particularly effective. The simultaneously releasing companion, US Marines Alphabet Book, offers the same quality and scope of information with illustrations by Vickie Fraser. Readers will learn a smattering of the Navajo Code Talker alphabet used during World War II as an unbreakable code to pass secret messages.
A must-have for young military enthusiasts. (Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-57091-953-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A solid introduction to fascinating artists, some familiar, others less so.
Contemporary and historical female artists are showcased for younger readers.
The artists’ names aren’t presented in A-to-Z order. The alphabetical arrangement actually identifies signature motifs (“D is for Dots” for Yayoi Kusama); preferred media (“I is for Ink” for Elizabeth Catlett); or cultural, natural, or personal motives underlying artworks (“N is for Nature” for Maya Lin). Various media are covered, such as painting, box assemblage, collage, photography, pottery, and sculpture. One artist named isn’t an individual but rather the Gee’s Bend Collective, “generations of African American women in Gee’s Bend, Alabama,” renowned for quilting artistry. Each artist and her or their work is introduced on a double-page spread that features succinct descriptions conveying much admiring, easily comprehensible information. Colorful illustrations include graphically simplified representations of the women at work or alongside examples of their art; the spreads provide ample space for readers to understand what the artists produced. Several women were alive when this volume was written; some died in the recent past or last century; two worked several hundred years ago, when female artists were rare. Commendably, the profiled artists are very diverse: African American, Latina, Native American, Asian, white, and multiethnic women are represented; this diversity is reflected in their work, as explained via texts and illustrations.
A solid introduction to fascinating artists, some familiar, others less so. (minibiographies, discussion questions, art suggestions) (Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-10872-7
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
Sad indeed, but a little bland—though less traumatic in the telling than the stories of Jumbo or the Faithful Elephants...
In this true tale of an elephant that crushed a keeper after peacefully giving zoo visitors rides for nearly 40 years, Fenton tones the drama down to near nonexistence (for better or worse).
Arriving at the Melbourne Zoo as a youngster, Queenie began giving rides in 1905. She became such a fixture that children wrote her letters, her birthday was celebrated each year, and she even marched in the Centenary Floral Parade in 1934. After creating an endearing but not anthropomorphic portrait of her pachyderm protagonist, the author, warning that “Queenie’s story has a sad ending,” goes on to explain that even though the 1944 killing might have been just an accident, “the gentle Indian elephant was put to sleep.” Furthermore, she was never replaced; the elephants in today’s zoo occupy a habitat where they can “do just what elephants like to do.” Neither the incident itself nor Queenie’s end are specifically described or depicted, and Gouldthorpe’s illustrations, which look like old, hand-tinted photographs, put a nostalgic distance between viewers and events.
Sad indeed, but a little bland—though less traumatic in the telling than the stories of Jumbo or the Faithful Elephants (1988) killed at the Tokyo Zoo. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: June 11, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6375-9
Page Count: 25
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2013
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