Alvarez creates a lovely tale based on legends from her childhood in the Dominican Republic. Our Lady of Altagracia, like Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico, is a New World version of the Virgin Mary, revered by both the Indians and the Spanish settlers. María’s parents have not been successful growing olives, and are in danger of losing their farm. However, when her father and the Indian Quisqueya return from town with Valencia oranges from Spain, María has a vision of “a beautiful lady with golden skin and a crown of stars,” in an orange grove. Following Our Lady’s instructions, the family plants the orange seeds, saying gracias with each one. In a matter of months, trees that would normally take years to grow bear fruit. In a second miracle, Quisqueya has a vision of Our Lady amidst the stars. The falling stars that he catches on his blanket are transformed into a shining, light-giving portrait of Our Lady. Vidal’s detailed, lovingly rendered pictures glow like the oranges and the stars she so beautifully depicts. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 11, 2005
ISBN: 0-375-82425-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2005
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This lovely story of tradition and family security has moments both gentle and funny, and a recipe for the main dish. Yussel loves Shabbos. On that day of peace, his parents don’t work and they all visit with friends and relatives or go to the park. Yussel’s favorite part is the meal of special round balls of gefilte fish. Every week, Papa rises early to catch the strange fish, and every week, Yussel yearns to go with him. One morning, Yussel’s wish comes true. Through a tender day at the lake with Papa, Yussel learns exactly what a gefilte fish is. His trip and his ultimate contributions to the family ritual are enhanced by Krenina’s fanciful illustrations; these evoke both the excitement of landing the fish and the warm gathering of family that night at sunset. (glossary) (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-525-45449-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
A celebration of the Amish spirit of community summoned for a one-day barn raising. Lightning-struck, the Yoder family’s barn burns to the ground, but before the week is out neighbors gather and, under the direction of grave, gray- bearded Samuel Stulzfoot, put up a new one. Too old to join the children, too young to help the men, eight-year-old Matthew is disheartened at being left out, until Stulzfoot enlists him to carry instructions to the builders. Yolen (with Bruce Coville, Armageddon, p. 975) frames Matthew’s narrative in rhythmic, literary cadences—“fingers of flame grabbed at the barn. The sky filled with blue ropes of smoke; a boy could climb them up to Heaven, if he were so willing”—that give the event a ritualistic air. Fuchs applies paint so thinly that the texture of the canvas becomes part of each scene, while the dominant colors are stately, opaque red-browns. The dimly seen background shapes and slightly unfocused foreground figures are seen in a russet light that looks smoky in firelit scenes and gives later ones a summery haze. The details of barn construction are passed over, but the central place a barn occupies on an Amish farm is clearly established. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-316-96887-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1998
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