As the subtitle indicates, an exploration of the collaborative efforts of five author-illustrator pairs (and in one case, triad). Children’s publishing chronicler Marcus (Author Talk, 2000, etc.) devotes individual chapters to Arthur Yorinks and Richard Egielski; Martin and Alice Provensen; Jon Scieszka, Lane Smith, and Molly Leach; Julius Lester and Jerry Pinkney; and Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen. While the work focuses on the evolution of one specific work for each team, it also presents overviews of their respective careers together. Reproductions of artists’ dummies and excerpts from successive drafts combine with interviews with the team members to illustrate and explain the unique ways each team approaches its work. The never-patronizing text is direct and cogent, offering valuable insights about the many different ways children’s book creators (and editors) approach their projects. Scieszka and Smith exchange ideas over games of Ping-Pong, for instance, but Cole presents Degen with a finished text, complete with dialogue balloon instructions (although he is able to assign the dialogue to many of the secondary characters according to his own instincts). Altogether engaging, this offering is nevertheless not exactly the sort of book children flock to of their own accord. It will, however, nicely complement guided explorations of children’s book creation, and the inclusion of two of the most popular teams with children will guarantee its appeal to the kids who do encounter it. And, of course, adults who work with children’s books will delight in this glimpse into the creative process. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 10+)
Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2001
ISBN: 0-8027-8778-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2001
Salva Dut is 11 years old when war raging in the Sudan separates him from his family. To avoid the conflict, he walks for years with other refugees, seeking sanctuary and scarce food and water. Park simply yet convincingly depicts the chaos of war and an unforgiving landscape as they expose Salva to cruelties both natural and man-made. The lessons Salva remembers from his family keep him from despair during harsh times in refugee camps and enable him, as a young man, to begin a new life in America. As Salva’s story unfolds, readers also learn about another Sudanese youth, Nya, and how these two stories connect contributes to the satisfying conclusion. This story is told as fiction, but it is based on real-life experiences of one of the “Lost Boys” of the Sudan. Salva and Nya’s compelling voices lift their narrative out of the “issue” of the Sudanese War, and only occasionally does the explanation of necessary context intrude in the storytelling. Salva’s heroism and the truth that water is a source of both conflict and reconciliation receive equal, crystal-clear emphasis in this heartfelt account. (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-547-25127-1
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2010
SEEN & HEARD
A child finds that being alone in a tiny tropical paradise has its ups and downs in this appealingly offbeat tale from the Australian author of Peeling the Onion (1999). Though her mother is long dead and her scientist father Jack has just sailed off on a quick expedition to gather plankton, Nim is anything but lonely on her small island home. Not only does she have constant companions in Selkie, a sea lion, and a marine iguana named Fred, but Chica, a green turtle, has just arrived for an annual egg-laying—and, through the solar-powered laptop, she has even made a new e-mail friend in famed adventure novelist Alex Rover. Then a string of mishaps darkens Nim’s sunny skies: her father loses rudder and dish antenna in a storm; a tourist ship that was involved in her mother’s death appears off the island’s reefs; and, running down a volcanic slope, Nim takes a nasty spill that leaves her feverish, with an infected knee. Though she lives halfway around the world and is in reality a decidedly unadventurous urbanite, Alex, short for “Alexandra,” sets off to the rescue, arriving in the midst of another storm that requires Nim and companions to rescue her. Once Jack brings his battered boat limping home, the stage is set for sunny days again. Plenty of comic, freely-sketched line drawings help to keep the tone light, and Nim, with her unusual associates and just-right mix of self-reliance and vulnerability, makes a character young readers won’t soon tire of. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-375-81123-0
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2000
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