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
How did hot dogs become so popular? asks Sylver in this popular history of the wiener. Well, it sure wasn’t because folks watched how the frankfurter was made—egads!—but two words do come to mind: salt and fat. The author does note that, but she is more inclined to delve into the dog’s history—it may well be the hoariest of junk foods; Homer knew about sausages and slipped them into the Odyssey—and explore their cultural relevance, from Everyman’s quick, cheap, Depression-proof meal, to being knit into the fabric of baseball stadiums across the land. Accompanied by Smith’s handsomely goofy, retro artwork, the narrative offers sidebars with factual tidbits galore—Frankfurt, Germany, celebrated the frankfurter’s 500th birthday in 1987; the origins of Nathan’s Famous and the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile; Humphrey Bogart telling it like it is: “A hot dog at the ball park is better than a steak at the Ritz”—which entertainingly meld to give the hot dog specific character. Attention is also paid to condiments: Mustard was used to treat Roman battle wounds and bathe sausages, though not at the same time. (websites, further resources, bibliography) (Informational picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-525-47897-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2010
Medearis (Skin Deep, p. 860, etc.) offers an upbeat retelling of a story that first appeared in William J. Faulkner's The Days When the Animals Talked, about a slave who wins his freedom by offering his master a riddle he can't solve. The riddle is an elaborate one: The text follows Jim for a year as incidents from daily life give him ideas for clues. In the meantime, readers glean a picture of life on a plantation as Medearis peppers her sure- footed narrative with a variety of inventive phrases and images. The large, heavy oil paintings have a subdued palette, featuring mainly Jim and others on the plantation; the different postures in which the characters are depicted contribute to the expressiveness of the narration, as if they were actors in a theatrical piece. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-525-67469-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1995
© 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.
