A strange, sweet girl who appears from out of nowhere, Tuppenny takes a job in the home of the local bigshot—the owner of the town factory and, essentially, owner of the town. Tuppenny reminds the Standings of their older daughter Victoria, who has run away from home, and her brief presence among them precipirates an emotional dinner-table scene. At her next job in the town cafe, Tuppenny reminds the proprietors of their daughter Josie, now in a home for the retarded; meanwhile she visits the town's only church and reminds the eerie, devil-worshipping minister and his wife of their Dottle, a presumed suicide found floating in the river. The story is projected more like an expressionistic play than a novel; characters speak out on cue to reveal basic conflicts, strong feelings, and action to date, and the air is charged with hints of past scandal and with Tuppenny's catalytic promise. Indeed, before the stranger vanishes, Victoria has returned home, Josie's parents have fetched her back from the institution, and the evil Reverend Masons have been dramatically exposed as the murderers of their daughter. Curiosity about all the secrets could keep an audience in place, but it's a shabby kind of drama, trite in conception and played for effect.
Pub Date: Nov. 9, 1978
ISBN: 0380555824
Page Count: 98
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1978
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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