by Karen Hesse & illustrated by Erik Blegvad ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2005
“The Ugly Duckling” was the story of Andersen’s life. Unattractive as a boy and subjected to teasing and taunting, he grew up to be a fabulously accomplished writer, courted by royalty and befriended by literary luminaries of his time. “First you have a terribly hard time, and then you become famous,” he said. This volume, a fitting celebration of the bicentennial of Andersen’s birth, is a perfect match of evocative, poetic text and sumptuous watercolor and pen-and-ink illustrations. Brief chapters, each page with an illustration, illustrate pivotal moments in the author’s life. The text ends as Andersen leaves Odense, Denmark, for Copenhagen, the end of one story of his life and the beginning of another. This will be a natural for reading aloud when introducing children to his stories. A perfect gem. (afterword, bibliography, illustrator’s note) (Nonfiction. 7-10)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-439-67990-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2005
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by Ntozake Shange & illustrated by Edel Rodriguez ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2002
This fervent but sketchy tribute to the world’s best known living athlete gives young readers stylized, spray-painted views of a comic book–style superhero with hugely exaggerated muscles and, generally, an open mouth, paired to eye-glazing captions. “As a boy, he struggled to make his way in the segregated world of the PRE-CIVIL RIGHTS SOUTH.” Shange makes a case for dubbing Ali a “hero for all time,” but aside from a later quote of the subtitle, she mentions his way with rhyme only as a boy, and ends her account of his boxing career with 1974’s “Rumble in the Jungle,” seven years before his last fight. The appended chronology addresses that lack, but skips from 1981 to 1996, and refers to his Parkinson’s Disease without explaining what it is—or its probable cause. Next to the strong prose and evocative art of Walter Dean Myers’s Malcolm X: A Fire Burning Brightly, illustrated by Leonard Jenkins (2000), or the grandeur of Doreen Rappaport’s Martin’s Big Words, illustrated by Brian Collier (2001), this portrait of a widely admired African-American comes off as more strident than inspirational. (Picture book/biography. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-7868-0554-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2002
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by Ntozake Shange & illustrated by Rod Brown
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by Ntozake Shange and illustrated by Kadir Nelson
by Tomie dePaola ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1999
The legions of fans who over the years have enjoyed dePaola’s autobiographical picture books will welcome this longer gathering of reminiscences. Writing in an authentically childlike voice, he describes watching the new house his father was building go up despite a succession of disasters, from a brush fire to the hurricane of 1938. Meanwhile, he also introduces family, friends, and neighbors, adds Nana Fall River to his already well-known Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs, remembers his first day of school (“ ‘ When do we learn to read?’ I asked. ‘Oh, we don’t learn how to read in kindergarten. We learn to read next year, in first grade.’ ‘Fine,’ I said. ‘I’ll be back next year.’ And I walked right out of school.”), recalls holidays, and explains his indignation when the plot of Disney’s “Snow White” doesn’t match the story he knows. Generously illustrated with vignettes and larger scenes, this cheery, well-knit narrative proves that an old dog can learn new tricks, and learn them surpassingly well. (Autobiography. 7-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-399-23246-X
Page Count: 58
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1999
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