by Jessie Hartland & illustrated by Jessie Hartland ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 8, 2012
While these stories may be familiar to adult readers, they are here perfectly pitched to introduce the determined woman who...
A homey biography introduces children to Julia Child.
Julia Child’s imposing but unglamorous figure and rumbly voiced television presence charmed cooks and eaters alike, even as her cookbooks changed kitchen dynamics in many American households. Hartland uses a naive cartoon storytelling style—several scenes on a page, accompanied by an energetic handwritten, partly cursive text—to recount her journey to success as a renowned cook. Lively tableaux deliver an affectionate tribute to this strong-minded woman. Scenes from Julia’s tomboy childhood include mention of Julia’s large feet and the three foods her mother would make on cook’s night off: biscuits, codfish balls and Welsh rabbit. The book moves onto her brief career with the OSS, her marriage to Paul Child (and their mutual interest in food) and their move to Paris. From Julia’s education at Le Cordon Bleu and her subsequent success in producing cookbooks, it’s clear that Julia succeeded through her attention to detail and her luck in matching passion for food with her ability to cook it expertly. The 37 steps in Julia’s preparation of a galantine for her sister “Dort the Wort” are amusingly detailed, and though readers are not told whether Dorothy was impressed, the anecdote is telling.
While these stories may be familiar to adult readers, they are here perfectly pitched to introduce the determined woman who became synonymous with French cooking in America. (bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 7-11)Pub Date: May 8, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-375-86944-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: March 6, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2012
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by Tomie dePaola ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1999
The legions of fans who over the years have enjoyed dePaola’s autobiographical picture books will welcome this longer gathering of reminiscences. Writing in an authentically childlike voice, he describes watching the new house his father was building go up despite a succession of disasters, from a brush fire to the hurricane of 1938. Meanwhile, he also introduces family, friends, and neighbors, adds Nana Fall River to his already well-known Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs, remembers his first day of school (“ ‘ When do we learn to read?’ I asked. ‘Oh, we don’t learn how to read in kindergarten. We learn to read next year, in first grade.’ ‘Fine,’ I said. ‘I’ll be back next year.’ And I walked right out of school.”), recalls holidays, and explains his indignation when the plot of Disney’s “Snow White” doesn’t match the story he knows. Generously illustrated with vignettes and larger scenes, this cheery, well-knit narrative proves that an old dog can learn new tricks, and learn them surpassingly well. (Autobiography. 7-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-399-23246-X
Page Count: 58
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1999
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by Anne Rockwell & illustrated by R. Gregory Christie ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 2000
A lot of information is packed into this picture-book biography. Sojourner, originally named Isabella, was a Dutch-speaking child born into slavery. Details about her life in slavery, when she was purchased by an English-speaking master, her marriage to a man selected by her master, the birth and loss of her children, and the events leading up to her transformation to an advocate for freedom, are recounted with passion. Rockwell (Career Day, p. 720, etc.) adds an author’s note explaining her motivation for writing this biography and cites Sojourner’s autobiography as her most helpful source. Additional information includes data about the subject’s life beyond the events chronicled and a timeline. The book is written in serial style, with a cliffhanger phrase at the end of each page. Coretta Scott King Honor Award winner Christie’s (The Palm of My Heart: Poetry by African American Children, 1996) primitive-style illustrations are striking. Oversized, mask-like heads, often fierce and foreboding, dominate many of the drawings. Earth-toned colors predominate in the stark depiction of Sojourner’s early life and the slave owners who mistreated her, but her strength shines through in all the illustrations. An excellent addition to the biography shelf as a compelling story of an extraordinary woman, as well as for its pertinence to school assignments. (Picture book/biography. 7-10)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-679-89186-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2000
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by Anne Rockwell ; illustrated by Lizzy Rockwell
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