A deeply felt if sketchy companion for Eve Bunting’s The Wall, illustrated by Ronald Himler (1990), or the plethora of...
A tribute to the massive annual motorcycle rally in Washington, D.C., that honors our country’s veterans.
Fittingly for an event that is all about remembering, Ruth’s illustrations depict hazy, often translucent figures riding through misty golden light past the towering statue of Abraham Lincoln to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. A white child narrates in terse rhyme: “Grandpa rides for Joe and Tom, / friends he lost in Vietnam.” Traveling to rendezvous with Grandpa by train, the narrator adds, “our trip is for Uncle Zach, / flying airplanes far away. / His picture rides with me today.” Dressed in camo and riding in the grizzled grandfather’s sidecar, the child reaches the wall, where they “Leave a single flower. Kneel. / Names in charcoal. Cry. And heal.” Then at day’s end it’s time to ride again, with “Whispered wishes. Come home soon.” Only a quick mention of “POWs, MIAs” acknowledges that they are the event’s chief focus (or at least the focus of its organizers). More troublingly, in the art almost all of the visible faces, both of riders and in the background crowds, are white.
A deeply felt if sketchy companion for Eve Bunting’s The Wall, illustrated by Ronald Himler (1990), or the plethora of introductions to the Memorial Day holiday. (afterword) (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: April 25, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-47012-4
Page Count: -
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Innocuous adventuring on the smallest of scales.
The Mouse and the Motorcycle (1965) upgrades to The Mice and the Rolls-Royce.
In Windsor Castle there sits a “dollhouse like no other,” replete with working plumbing, electricity, and even a full library of real, tiny books. Called Queen Mary’s Dollhouse, it also plays host to the Whiskers family, a clan of mice that has maintained the house for generations. Henry Whiskers and his cousin Jeremy get up to the usual high jinks young mice get up to, but when Henry’s little sister Isabel goes missing at the same time that the humans decide to clean the house up, the usually bookish big brother goes on the adventure of his life. Now Henry is driving cars, avoiding cats, escaping rats, and all before the upcoming mouse Masquerade. Like an extended version of Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Two Bad Mice (1904), Priebe keeps this short chapter book constantly moving, with Duncan’s peppy art a cute capper. Oddly, the dollhouse itself plays only the smallest of roles in this story, and no factual information on the real Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House is included at the tale’s end (an opportunity lost).
Innocuous adventuring on the smallest of scales. (Fantasy. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6575-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
A lovely vision for small, sensitive existentialists.
Under the desert night sky, Dad helps his child find cosmic comfort.
The vast universe has made a child feel too small despite their close family. Until, the young narrator tells us, they and their father pack their old pickup, driving through the “rubber and french fries” smell of the city and the “sweet and smoky” mountain scent to camp off-road in a remote arroyo. Together they see tiny beetle prints, jump in sand dunes, name birds, build a fire, watch the sunset, and stretch out in the truck bed. A thoughtful, small human, the child admits to being scared of “how big the universe is and how it goes on and on forever.” But equally thoughtful Dad explains that stars, beetles, birds, and even people are made of energy. Angst is not easily tamed, but snuggling and giving the constellations idiosyncratic names help, as does Mom’s back-at-home surprise: glowing stars covering the narrator’s room. In this bed under the stars, this budding philosopher finally feels “at home here in the universe.” It’s a quiet, contemplative tale that might not strike a chord with all readers but will reassure those who share the protagonist’s worries. Delicate, realistic art plays warm orange and brown hues against blues from pale to indigo, balancing (living) warmth and (interstellar) distance. The child and family are light-skinned and redheaded. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A lovely vision for small, sensitive existentialists. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1239-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
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