While ultimately it may not entirely work as story or history, Krebs offers a glimpse into a part of human culture most youngsters—or oldsters—may not know at all. In rhyme, she tracks China’s Silk Road, evocatively used these days as a metaphor for all kinds of cross-cultural memes, as a kind of exotic school chant. There’s a running chorus, “We’re riding on a caravan, a bumpy humpy caravan,” and there’s the first-person plural narrative, also rhymed, from Xi’an to Kashgar as silks are traded for wool, rice for bread. The yearlong trek ends at Kashgar’s Sunday market, which still exists today. The colorful pictures, made with bits of silk brocade and marbled paper collage as well as watercolor, show many kinds of costume and many ages and genders of caravan travelers. The pictures are busy with animals and wagons, desert and mountains. Author’s notes cover some background, but no sources are given. Adult readers will probably yearn for more information, but children will enjoy the bouncing rhythm and the intricate images. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 1-84148-343-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2005
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
After absorbing this must-read bit of personal history about John Lewis, young readers will never see this serious-faced...
A glimpse into the childhood whimsy of an important African-American congressman who has become famous for his words.
Long before John Lewis spoke to thousands during the civil rights movement, he honed his elocution skills by preaching to his 60 farmyard chickens. Knowing each one by name and habits, John protected his chickens from those who wanted to trade for them, rescued them when they fell into the well, and even once brought a nearly drowned chick back to life. Bringing a message of peace when the chickens bickered over food, John earned the nickname “Preacher” from his siblings. Illustrator Lewis’ signature watercolors paint a lively picture of John Lewis’ life growing up on a farm with a close and hardworking Christian family. The liveliness of the chickens as well as John’s concern and care for them shine in the light-dappled images. Given the seriousness of what Lewis faced on the march from Selma to Montgomery and the gravity of the issues he has dealt with throughout his career, this joy-inducing back story reveals an entertaining facet to the congressman’s life that young readers will appreciate.
After absorbing this must-read bit of personal history about John Lewis, young readers will never see this serious-faced congressman in quite the same way. (Picture book/biography. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 11, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-16856-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: June 27, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Of greater use in STEM units than in American history studies.
An African-American inventor of the 18th-century designs and builds a new-style clock.
A young Benjamin Banneker is fascinated by mechanical things. After taking apart a borrowed pocket watch, he studies all the parts and how they work. Fascinated, he is determined to build a big clock and spends the next two years doing just that. Keller does a good job detailing the process: what works and what does not. Banneker sketches and designs and even realizes that he can age the wood he is using in the same manner that his family cures tobacco on their Maryland farm. After much trial and error and scientific thought, Banneker succeeds. Unfortunately, it is only in the author’s note that readers learn that Banneker was born a free black in 1731. Even in a title stressing his inventive genius, his uncommon free status should warrant explicit mention and explanation within the text. Gardner’s soft-toned watercolor illustrations follow the seasonal changes in Maryland while also depicting Banneker’s many other talents, such as playing the flute. It is a peaceful, idyllic existence in a quiet and pleasant book.
Of greater use in STEM units than in American history studies. (Picture book/biography. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-58536-956-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
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