While not strictly biographical, the story captures the curiosity and courage of a woman who finally followed her dream.
This Swiss import introduces an intrepid woman whose world travels and writings were extraordinary for her time.
Ida Pfeiffer (1797-1858) was one of seven children in her Austrian family. One to three sentences per composition convey the narrator’s circumstances and intent, allowing the images to carry details and feelings. A collector of natural specimens and companion to her adventurous brothers, the protagonist was later reined in and married off by her mother. Two sons followed, but they grow and leave in the space of three pages. (The husband was already out of the picture.) The narrative emphasis is on Pfeiffer’s subsequent adventuresome voyage and exploration of flora, fauna, and other civilizations. (In reality, she made several; this story compresses them into one.) Readers will be amused that she had to tie herself to her bed during a storm at sea to avoid falling out. The vivid colors are emotive rather than natural; the shapes are stylized. Pfeiffer has lavender skin and green hair. Friendly jungle inhabitants are a slightly darker purple; wearing masks, they greet her and later include her in a firelit celebration. The book’s large trim size and panoramic spreads suit the scale of her childhood dreams and later escapades. The warm palette and teeming life of her new friends’ island contrast with the barren trees dotting the dark landscape the day her brothers left home.
While not strictly biographical, the story captures the curiosity and courage of a woman who finally followed her dream. (afterword, map) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-7358-4420-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
An action-packed romp.
Superheroes deal with their emotions.
What happens when the empowered have a terrible day? Becker posits that while they could go on destructive sprees and wreak havoc, the caped crusaders and men and women of steel harness their energies and direct it in constructive ways. Little readers filled with energy and emotion may learn to draw similar conclusions, but the author doesn’t hammer home the message. The author has much more fun staging scenes of chaos and action, and Kaban clearly has a ball illustrating them. Superheroes could use laser vision to burn down forests and weather powers to freeze beachgoers. They could ignore crime sprees and toss vehicles across state lines. These hypothetical violent spectacles are softened by the cartoonish stylizations and juxtaposed with pages filled with heroic, “true” efforts such as rounding up criminals and providing fun at an amusement park. The illustrations are energetic and feature multicultural heroes. The vigorous illustrations make this a read for older children, as the busyness could overwhelm very little ones. While the book’s formula recalls How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? and its many sequels, the relative scarcity of superhero picture books means there’s a place on the shelf for it.
An action-packed romp. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4549-1394-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Birdsong began her career as a teacher, and the book will find repeated use in the classroom.
A multicultural girl-power manifesto featuring a feisty young girl who faces her day as a knight on an epic quest.
The unnamed narrator puts on her “armor” (a rainbow sweater) and fills her “treasure chest” (a backpack). Venturing forth to “explore new worlds,” she drives back “dragons” (neighborhood dogs on their walk), boards the “many-headed serpent” (her school bus, with schoolmates’ heads protruding from every window), and visits “the Mountain of Knowledge” (the school library) to “solve the mysteries of the unknown.” After standing up for her beliefs—by joining a classmate sitting alone in the cafeteria—the young girl returns home to rest in the lap of an older female relative, possibly a grandparent/primary caregiver, to prepare for the next day, when she can be “fierce again.” Birdsong’s repeated refrain—“I will be fierce!”—underlines the unambiguous message of this sassy picture book, and Chanani’s bold and energetic illustrations reinforce the text’s punchy, feminist-y declarations. They depict a joyously multiracial environment, consciously tackling stereotypes with an elderly, white, female bus driver and a groovy, Asian-presenting librarian with a green streak in her hair. The fierce protagonist herself has brown skin and fluffy, dark brown hair, and her caregiver also has brown skin.
Birdsong began her career as a teacher, and the book will find repeated use in the classroom. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 23, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-29508-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
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