Old Crump is a faithful ox who carries four children of forty-niners safely through Death Valley and across the mountains into California. He narrowly escapes being killed for food by the starving travelers, but in the end his faithfulness is rewarded. Although this is apparently based on a true story, there is no citation identifying the source of the diaries and letters mentioned in an author’s note. The intriguing illustrations add details, such as a watchful red-tailed hawk, a dog, and a desert mouse whose antics add interest to the tale, but Australian Winch (The Colt and the King, below, etc.) slips up in his illustration of a meal of “tortillas, beans, milk, and cheese,” which shows heaping plates of green beans rather than the expected frijoles. There are other problems in terms of plausibility. The travelers are reported to have burned their covered wagons and everything in them to keep warm during a cold windy night. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to crawl inside for shelter? In another instance, what looks like a shining lake turns out to be only a pool of brine. “Nothing but a mirage,” the text says. But technically this is not a mirage—there was water, although it was undrinkable. It would be nice to know the true story of these children and the ox, but this tale, like a mirage, is unfortunately not to be trusted. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: March 15, 2002
ISBN: 0-8234-1608-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A book that will make young dog-owners smile in recognition and confirm dogless readers' worst suspicions about the mayhem caused by pets, even winsome ones. Sam, who bears passing resemblance to an affable golden retriever, is praised for fetching the family newspaper, and goes on to fetch every other newspaper on the block. In the next story, only the children love Sam's swimming; he is yelled at by lifeguards and fishermen alike when he splashes through every watering hole he can find. Finally, there is woe to the entire family when Sam is bored and lonely for one long night. Boland has an essential message, captured in both both story and illustrations of this Easy-to-Read: Kids and dogs belong together, especially when it's a fun-loving canine like Sam. An appealing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-8037-1530-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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