Zilla loses a shoe into the clutchy goop that lines the Little Muddy River. When she tries to pull it free, she finds in her hand a mud baby, waving that shoe. Granny Vi, Zilla's neighbor, tells her to wash the child in milk, then water, and what once was mud will become human. She does, he does, a family of two is born. But Zilla is plagued by worries: Does his muddy bathwater mean he is melting (Granny Vi counsels that all children leave muddy bathwater behind), and will the river try to reclaim its creation? This is a promising scenario, especially well realized in Harvey's delicate, joy-filled pictures, but Gorog (see review, above) misses many of its opportunities. The rural setting is never developed, so readers never sense the river's menace the way Zilla does. The character of Cinnamon, first as a baby and then as a grown boy, is frustratingly blank, which makes it hard to identify with the central theme: the cares and concerns of parenting. Zilla's fears are such wild-eyed concoctions that the final scene, in which Cinnamon emerges safely from the river, has little impact. (Picture book. 6-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 1996
ISBN: 1-56402-295-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Trickling, bubbling, swirling, rushing, a river flows down from its mountain beginnings, past peaceful country and bustling city on its way to the sea. Hooper (The Drop in My Drink, 1998, etc.) artfully evokes the water’s changing character as it transforms from “milky-cold / rattling-bold” to a wide, slow “sliding past mudflats / looping through marshes” to the end of its journey. Willey, best known for illustrating Geraldine McCaughrean’s spectacular folk-tale collections, contributes finely detailed scenes crafted in shimmering, intricate blues and greens, capturing mountain’s chill, the bucolic serenity of passing pastures, and a sense of mystery in the water’s shadowy depths. Though Hooper refers to “the cans and cartons / and bits of old wood” being swept along, there’s no direct conservation agenda here (for that, see Debby Atwell’s River, 1999), just appreciation for the river’s beauty and being. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: June 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0792-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000
Keena Ford’s second-grade class is taking a field trip to the United States Capitol. This good-hearted girl works hard to behave, but her impulsive decisions have a way of backfiring, no matter how hard she tries to do the right thing. In this second book in a series, Keena cuts off one of her braids and later causes a congressman to fall down the stairs. The first-person journal format is a stretch—most second graders can barely write, let alone tell every detail of three days of her life. Children will wonder how Keena can cut one of her “two thick braids” all the way off by pretend-snipping in the air. They will be further confused because the cover art clearly shows Keena with a completely different hairdo on the field trip than the one described. Though a strong African-American heroine is most welcome in chapter books and Keena and her family are likable and realistic, this series needs more polish before Keena writes about her next month in school. (Fiction. 6-9)
Pub Date: July 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3264-3
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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