Using poems and pictures, this modern bestiary proves a fascinating introduction to mythical creatures from different cultures. Beginning with the ever-popular dragon and ending with the familiar phoenix, the collection also includes the less well-known Russian firebird, the Old Testament cockatrice, the British hobgoblin and will o’ the wisp, the Egyptian sphinx and the Southeast Asian naga. Each creature is described in a poem capturing some of its unique features as well as its mystery. The mermaid is “part woman, part fish” who listens “to the waves break on the shore—half song, half roar,” while the gargoyle is a beast “with a stone tongue, with a stone throat” whose “mouth is a rainspout.” While the illustrations appropriately borrow elements from medieval illuminated manuscripts, including embellished capital letters, intricate curvilinear forms and brilliant colors, they also incorporate decorative forms from the cultural source. The firebird reflects Russian folk art; the trolls recall Nordic wood carvings; the thunderbird echoes tribal art of the Pacific Northwest. End-pages ingeniously unite the curious creatures providing the perfect start and finish to this little masterpiece. (glossary) (Picture book. 6-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-15-206325-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2008
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
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