A touching read for anyone, but especially poignant for parents raising children with similar conditions.
A father remembers a special daughter.
Parents are never fully prepared for the birth of a first child. But when Alexander’s daughter Lindsey was born, he and his wife had no idea what joy and heartache the next 16 years would bring. Soon after her birth, Lindsey was diagnosed with Down syndrome and severe heart defects. During the first few years of her life, she underwent several open-heart surgeries to correct the defects and enable her to be as active as possible. The doctors’ efforts were well rewarded, as Lindsey grew into an energetic, loving, outgoing girl, adored by her parents, brothers, extended family and many friends. In this short memoir, Lindsey’s father recounts the traits that made her special, both those related to her physical and mental handicaps and her strong personality and spirit. While enduring numerous illnesses and hospital stays, as well as rigorous daily medication regimens, Lindsey attended school, marched with the drill team, participated in the Special Olympics, taught sign language and attended the eighth-grade prom with her boyfriend. In sharing both fond and painful memories, as well as personal photographs, Alexander not only documents his daughter’s remarkable life, but also passes on the infectious joy with which she approached the world and the lasting impact she had on those she left behind. He closes with brief reflections on her final days and how he struggled to find peace after her death. In this debut, Alexander’s narrative occasionally meanders, but the prose is heartfelt and engaging.
A touching read for anyone, but especially poignant for parents raising children with similar conditions.Pub Date: May 1, 2006
ISBN: 978-1-58982-359-4
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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