Although this guidebook doesn’t venture off the beaten track and basically covers what any other guidebook to London would cover (the museums, the obvious tourist sites, etc.), it does offer background history and some interesting factoids. There are also pencil and paper activities with which to keep children busy. While the cover is attractive and will entice children, the layout and design inside the book are overly cluttered and busy, and the text on the maps is printed in a typeface that children may find difficult to decipher. One of the double-page maps doesn’t match properly in the center, which is confusing (and sloppy). While some of the advice is obvious—take a snack in case there are no stores or restaurants in which to buy food—and some are more for parents than kids—telephone any place you are visiting to check on the opening and closing times—some is quite useful. “Be flexible: If there is a long queue for what you want to see, there is usually something else nearby which is just as interesting, especially in a museum.” A good way to prepare for a family trip to London, and a pleasant activity for the plane ride over, this is a useful book to have on hand to supplement and augment other sources when a child is actually in London. But its large size, 8 ½’’ x 11”, will make it difficult for a child to carry around. An adequate guide to London, if messy to look at. (Nonfiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-09-940327-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Collins & Brown/Trafalgar
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2000
PLB 0-688-13166-2 King Midas And The Golden Touch ($16.00; PLB $15.63; Apr.; 32 pp.; 0-688-13165-4; PLB 0-688-13166-2): The familiar tale of King Midas gets the golden touch in the hands of Craft and Craft (Cupid and Psyche, 1996). The author takes her inspiration from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s retelling, capturing the essence of the tale with the use of pithy dialogue and colorful description. Enchanting in their own right, the illustrations summon the Middle Ages as a setting, and incorporate colors so lavish that when they are lost to the uniform gold spurred by King Midas’s touch, the point of the story is further burnished. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-688-13165-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
Lunge-Larsen and Preus debut with this story of a flower that blooms for the first time to commemorate the uncommon courage of a girl who saves her people from illness. The girl, an Ojibwe of the northern woodlands, knows she must journey to the next village to get the healing herb, mash-ki- ki, for her people, who have all fallen ill. After lining her moccasins with rabbit fur, she braves a raging snowstorm and crosses a dark frozen lake to reach the village. Then, rather than wait for morning, she sets out for home while the villagers sleep. When she loses her moccasins in the deep snow, her bare feet are cut by icy shards, and bleed with every step until she reaches her home. The next spring beautiful lady slippers bloom from the place where her moccasins were lost, and from every spot her injured feet touched. Drawing on Ojibwe sources, the authors of this fluid retelling have peppered the tale with native words and have used traditional elements, e.g., giving voice to the forces of nature. The accompanying watercolors, with flowing lines, jewel tones, and decorative motifs, give stately credence to the story’s iconic aspects. (Picture book/folklore. 4-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-90512-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1999
© Copyright 2026 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.
