Joseph Janney Steinmetz, a well-known photographer who worked for Life and The Saturday Evening Post, lived in Sarasota, Florida, where the circus in its winter quarters was a favorite subject. His daughter, an award-winning YA author, presents a wealth of his photos—from the circus train's arrival after its seven-month tour to its departure (after a priest's blessing) the next spring. Living quarters, sideshow personalities, acrobats practicing and relaxing, animal acts, and clowns are detailed in crisp b&w photos that are beautifully composed, telling, and sometimes extraordinary (in one, an elephant seems to perch in a laundry basket; and a shot of Emmett Kelly for his own Christmas card is a treasure). Duncan's well-organized text ties it all together, progressing from ``the wings of the circus'' (aerialists) to animal acts (``its backbone'') to ``the heart of the circus...the clowns.'' She adds intriguing facts and anecdotes (Stravinsky agreed to write the ``Ballet of the Elephants'' after he was assured that the elephants in question were ``very young''), and concludes with the two disastrous fires during WW II and the end of the old big top as times changed. A fascinating insider's view of a topic with perennial charm. Index. (Nonfiction. 7+)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-385-30689-X
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1993
Simple, bella, un regalo permenente: simple and beautiful, a gift that will stay.
Renowned Latin American writer Alvarez has created another story about cultural identity, but this time the primary character is 11-year-old Miguel Guzmán.
When Tía Lola arrives to help the family, Miguel and his hermana, Juanita, have just moved from New York City to Vermont with their recently divorced mother. The last thing Miguel wants, as he's trying to fit into a predominantly white community, is a flamboyant aunt who doesn't speak a word of English. Tía Lola, however, knows a language that defies words; she quickly charms and befriends all the neighbors. She can also cook exotic food, dance (anywhere, anytime), plan fun parties, and tell enchanting stories. Eventually, Tía Lola and the children swap English and Spanish ejercicios, but the true lesson is "mutual understanding." Peppered with Spanish words and phrases, Alvarez makes the reader as much a part of the "language" lessons as the characters. This story seamlessly weaves two culturaswhile letting each remain intact, just as Miguel is learning to do with his own life. Like all good stories, this one incorporates a lesson just subtle enough that readers will forget they're being taught, but in the end will understand themselves, and others, a little better, regardless of la lengua nativa—the mother tongue.
Simple, bella, un regalo permenente: simple and beautiful, a gift that will stay. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-375-80215-0
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Trickling, bubbling, swirling, rushing, a river flows down from its mountain beginnings, past peaceful country and bustling city on its way to the sea. Hooper (The Drop in My Drink, 1998, etc.) artfully evokes the water’s changing character as it transforms from “milky-cold / rattling-bold” to a wide, slow “sliding past mudflats / looping through marshes” to the end of its journey. Willey, best known for illustrating Geraldine McCaughrean’s spectacular folk-tale collections, contributes finely detailed scenes crafted in shimmering, intricate blues and greens, capturing mountain’s chill, the bucolic serenity of passing pastures, and a sense of mystery in the water’s shadowy depths. Though Hooper refers to “the cans and cartons / and bits of old wood” being swept along, there’s no direct conservation agenda here (for that, see Debby Atwell’s River, 1999), just appreciation for the river’s beauty and being. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: June 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0792-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000
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