It’s war to the last crumb of potato, cheese, and kasha on New York City’s Lower East Side.
The first knishery has opened in the early years of the 20th century on Rivington Street amid Manhattan’s largely Eastern European Jewish immigrant community. The delicious, oversized dumplings are baked with a filling of potatoes, cheese, or kasha (buckwheat groats) and fill one’s tummy with warmed-up heavenly heaviness. Benny’s family business is busy and successful until a new store opens right across the street. This knishery sells fried knishes! From baked to fried and from round to square—a war of reduced-by-a-penny pricing begins. Signs, raffles, street music, and a visit from the mayor follow. After many tastings, the mayor makes a politically sound decision by proclaiming “Rivington Street: the Knish Capital of the World!” The author has based her entertaining saga of economic warfare on an actual event as reported in the New York Times in January 1916. Davis’ illustrations, in pen and ink, depict an almost–all-white cast dressed in mostly modern and fashionable 1916 clothing. The palest white faces unfortunately often take on an unhealthy pallor when set on the white background of the pages.
A tasty slice of New York City immigrant lore. (author’s note, recipes) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8075-4182-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017
Categories: CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An imagining of an unlikely real-life episode in the life of absurdist Franz Kafka.
Theule follows the outline of the account: When Kafka meets an unhappy girl in a Berlin park in 1923 and learns her doll is lost, Kafka writes a series of letters from Soupsy, the doll, to Irma, the girl. The real letters and the girl’s identity have been lost to history; the invented letters describe a dazzling variety of adventures for Soupsy. Unfortunately, as the letters increase in excitement, Kafka’s health declines (he would die of tuberculosis in June 1924), and he must find a way to end Soupsy’s adventures in a positive way. In an author’s note, readers learn that Kafka chose to write that Soupsy was getting married. Theule instead opts to send the doll on an Antarctic expedition. Irma gets the message that she can do anything, and the final image shows her riding a camel, a copy of Metamorphosis peeking from a satchel. While kids may not care about Kafka, the short relationship between the writer and the little girl will keep their interest. Realizing that an adult can care so much about a child met in the park is empowering. The stylized illustrations, especially those set in the chilly Berlin fall, resemble woodcuts with a German expressionist look. The doll’s adventures look a little sweeter, with more red and blue added to the brown palette of the German scenes. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.5-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at 23% of actual size.)
This reimagined telling has an engaging charm that rings true. (biographical note, bibliography) (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: March 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-11632-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Dec. 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
Categories: CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION
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A relatively sturdy pullout castle with a die-cut drawbridge and a dragon in the cellar serves as playscape for punch-out figures of medieval Maisy and her friends.
The dramatic main event follows a perfunctory scenario in which Maisy welcomes “Sir Charley” the crocodile and others to a bit of archery practice, then dons armor to win a friendly joust “by one point.” Even toddlers-at-arms (with minimal assistance from a yeoparent) can follow the easy instructions to set up the castle and brace it. The card-stock punch-outs include four characters in period dress, two rideable destriers and, oddly, a cannon. These can be stored in an accompanying pocket when not in use—or even dispensed with entirely, as the castle is not only festooned with busy guards and other residents, but there is lots of (literal) monkey business going on. Along with sending Maisy further from her customary domestic settings than usual, this outing features a possibly discomfiting quantity of weaponry—none seen actually in use, but still adding an unusually martial note to a series that generally promotes more peaceful pursuits.
Just a bit of well-armed fun, more suitable formatwise for a gift than classroom or library shelves. (Novelty. 5-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7438-0
Page Count: 10
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
Categories: CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION
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