Lied's first book retells a family story that brings home the reality of the Great Depression. The narrator, pictured as a young girl with pigtails writing next to a family photo album, tells the true story of her grandparents, Clarence and Agnes, who were young parents when the Depression first hit. When Clarence lost his job, the family lost their house in Iowa. Clarence and Agnes borrowed a car and drove to Idaho to dig potatoes. By day they worked for the farmer; by night, with his permission, they dug potatoes from the picked-over fields for themselves. The work only lasted two weeks, but they arrived back in Iowa with the car stuffed to the ceiling with spuds, a supply that carried them through to better times. Ernst supplies her trademark illustrations, framed on pages the same shade as brown paper bags, and suggesting snapshots in an album; the spare prose becomes captions to the events unfolding in each scene. This could be a useful opener for encouraging children to explore their own family histories, especially when they learn that the author was eight years old when she wrote down her story for a bookstore writing contest. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-7922-3521-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: National Geographic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1997
Based on a true story is this old-fashioned account from Tunnell (with George W. Chilcoat, The Children of Topaz, 1996, etc.), about five-year-old May's railroad journey via parcel post across the rugged Idaho mountains to visit her grandmother. Unable to purchase a first-class train ticket, May has 53õ in stamps glued to the back of her coat and joins the packages and letters in the mail car. Even a cranky old conductor cannot deter May from making it to Grandma Mary's for lunch. A little-known detail in the history of the postal service inspired this 1914 period piece, and while children may wish for more suspense, the matter-of-fact telling is sure to bring quiet smiles as understanding dawns. Rand's illustrations of homey, wood-grained, braided-rug interiors and bundled-up wintry scenes bring warmth to the narrative; sepia-toned illustrations mimicking old photographs add to the notion of the book as part story, part historical record, while a photograph of the real Charlotte May Pierstorff appears on the jacket. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-688-12878-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1997
Queen Elizabeth I makes her way through the English countryside on one of her summer “progresses,” attended by an entourage that includes two traitors. Arranged alphabetically, Elizabeth’s travels are narrated, as in so many alphabet books these days, on two levels. The alphabet letters introduce short, doggerel verse, while accompanying text boxes provide fuller information about the goings-on. This split-personality organization conveys too little information for those whose attention spans limit the experience to the alphabet portion of the narrative. “I is for intrigue, / and shadowy strangers,” will be nothing short of baffling to this set, although older children will learn that “[m]any plots were aimed at Queen Elizabeth during her reign.” Ibatoulline seems able to adapt his style to anything, here rendering lush, detailed oils that recall the Northern European masters of the Renaissance. The traitors, however, although they are introduced in the “A” spread, do not figure enough throughout the rest of the illustrations to build a satisfying tension before the climax. A potentially lovely and interesting effort, but both text and illustrations just miss the mark. (Picture book/nonfiction. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-670-03612-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2003
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
