A gem of a book about the gradual transformation of an intelligent professor into an intelligent homeless woman. In Spohn's (Ruth's Bake Shop, 1990) hands the transformation is as natural as a change of season. The woman once lived where ``it was warm and where herons stood and where pastel shells lay on the beach.'' Once, she ``liked wearing stylish clothes and owning lovely things.'' After a while, however, she wanders off in what we begin to see is a simple and quite purposeful search: to locate more of the lovely things of the world—``newspapers, books, ladders with missing rungs, bicycle wheels, single shoes, bottle tops,'' and broken black umbrellas, her favorites, which ``resemble the bats that are supposed to bring good luck.'' The warm oil- paintings are luminous with the strange complacency of a woman who's simply chosen to become a part of, rather than remain a bystander in, a world of beautiful things. Spohn clearly wants to take away the reflexive fear of homeless people from little kids (``You may cross over to avoid her smell. Or you may stop and listen to what she has to say''). It's an iffy proposition. Spohn completely skirts the issue of how miserable it is to be homeless, and parents probably don't want their children to pal around with such peculiar strangers. But there's an elemental lesson in humanity here. (Fiction/Picture book. 3-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-670-85769-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
What if the market was closed when you wanted to bake a pie? You could embark for Europe, learn Italian en route, and pick up some semolina wheat in Italy, an egg in France, kurundu bark for cinnamon in Sri Lanka, and an entire cow in England (butter) before coming home via Jamaica (sugar) and Vermont (apples). The expertly designed illustrations in which a dark-haired lass journeys by various means to these interesting places to get her groceries are lovely and lively, and the narrative, too, travels at a spritely pace. The journey is neither quite logical enough to be truly informative nor quite bizarre enough to be satisfyingly silly, while the rich, sweet recipe that's appended will take some adult assistance. Still, fun. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 2, 1994
ISBN: 0-679-83705-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1994
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
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