Explaining that ``Our selections, with minor editing, come from Maria Audubon (1986), Audubon and His Journals,'' the Roops choose passages that outline Audubon's life, work, and thought, effectively evoking a man for whom painting birds was ``almost a mania,'' who ``would even give up doing a head, the profits of which would have supplied our wants for a week, to represent a citizen of the feathered tribe,'' and who wondered prophetically about imminent effects of ``the surplus population of Europe coming to assist in the destruction of the forest.'' The book is attractively furnished with excellent reproductions (titled but not dated); Farley's rather stolid paintings suffer by comparison, ironically underlining Audubon's skill. The text, offered without dates or ellipses, sounds retrospective rather than like a journal; readers capable enough to cope with its vocabulary would be better served by having more clues to specific sources. A chronology and index, too, are wanting. Still, lucid and attractive. List of secondary sources. (Autobiography. 10-14)
Pub Date: Oct. 25, 1993
ISBN: 0-8027-8204-3
Page Count: 42
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1993
BOOK REVIEW
Kostyal has written a tight, bracing biography of the renowned Antarctic explorer, illustrated with dramatic black-and-white photographs. Shackleton, a man whose sense of romance and adventure repeatedly drew him from conventional British society to Antarctica (“that lonely, windswept desert of ice and snow at the bottom of the world”), succeeded neither in reaching the South Pole nor traversing the continent, but he exhibited such remarkable valor that, according to the author, his name has become “synonymous with bravery and endurance.” As usual, there is more about his expeditions than the man, but Kostyal renders the tale in vivid prose that is enhanced by maps, quotes, a timeline and some remarkable photographs. This quality book will be a useful addition in both home and school libraries. (map, chronology, index) (Biography. 8-10)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7922-7393-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: National Geographic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1999
A new biography of the foremost boxer of our time emphasizes Ali's stubborn unwillingness to fit the low-profile ``Credit to His Race'' mold of his predecessors: his loud (and eminently quotable) self-promotion; his conversion to the Nation of Islam; and, especially, his refusal to be drafted, which cost him years of court battles, much of his career, and (temporarily) his title and boxing credentials. The author focuses on Ali's public career and major bouts rather than on his private life; except for Ali's 1990 appeal to Iraq to free hostages, he closes with his retirement in the early 80's. Several pages of notes; chronology; brief, well-chosen booklist; index. B&w photos not seen. (Biography. 11-14)
Pub Date: Feb. 15, 1992
ISBN: 1-56294-112-7
Page Count: 100
Publisher: Millbrook
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1992
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