A melodious and uplifting environmental success story.
The true story of a musician who makes her home a better place.
Mahani Teave lives on Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island. She hears music in everything, from the waves crashing against the rocks to the songs of the crickets. When visitors, who are racially diverse, come to her island with instruments, she longs to play. A retired teacher, who presents as White, arrives one day and brings a piano. Mahani practices diligently, and when a great Chilean pianist visits and hears Mahani perform, he is amazed by her talent and encourages her to work hard. Eventually, she knows she must leave her beautiful island to learn from musicians worldwide. She plays concerts and wins international competitions. Wherever she goes, she shares the beauty of her island. Tourists flock to the island. Unfortunately, they bring trash with them. It takes much effort, but Mahani and a team of islanders use the garbage—cardboard, glass and plastic bottles, tires—to build the island’s first music school. The Rapa Nui School of Music and the Arts is solar-powered and allows the island’s children to pursue their artistic passions. Mahani’s dream of a sustainable Rapa Nui continues. Accompanied by vibrant, delightful visuals, this upbeat and fascinating story will leave readers feeling as though they, too, can make a difference when it comes to helping the planet. Backmatter includes more information on Mahani and Rapa Nui. (This book was reviewed digitally; this review has been updated for accuracy.)
A melodious and uplifting environmental success story. (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-72826-231-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: Feb. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
This a-peel-ing story will give readers a new appreciation for spuds. (Picture book/biography. 5-8)
Junius G. Groves, named “Potato King of the World” by the United States Department of Agriculture in 1902, was the richest black man “living between the Missouri River and the Rockies,” according to the Indianapolis Recorder.
This entertaining biography celebrates an African-American hero born into slavery in the late 1850s in Kentucky who realized his dreams for himself and eventually for his large family. Settling in the Great Kaw Valley, Kansas, Junius began working on a potato farm for 40 cents a day, “almost starvation wages,” but he was determined to own a farm one day. First renting their land, Junius and his wife, Matilda, worked hard and saved, buying 80 acres in 1884 and paying off the balance in a year with the help of their three sons. Eventually he bought over 500 acres on which he grew 72,150 bushels—roughly 12 million potatoes—in one year, 1902. With 12 children and lots of hired hands, Junius built Groves Park, the community of Groves Center, a church, a store, and even a golf course. Every few pages, a sidebar punctuates Bolden’s chatty, colloquial narrative with words from Groves himself. The mixed-media illustrations, awash in blues, greens, and browns, successfully represent the expansiveness of the land and the momentous nature of Groves’ accomplishments. A glossary, a timeline, and other helpful backmatter make this an excellent research resource for teachers and students alike.
This a-peel-ing story will give readers a new appreciation for spuds. (Picture book/biography. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-385-75276-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This distinctive biography brims with artistic vision as it informs about a signature sculptor.
The simplest objects can turn into art when you draw from life, nature, and personal passion.
Fascinated by a snail’s shell, gossamer dragonfly wings, and a spider’s complex web, Ruth Asawa carefully observed tiny details around her family farm, her hands constantly busy with found objects such as wire and paper. Simple, straightforward text tells how she drew inspiration from Japanese calligraphy, dancers who bent their bodies into shapes, and craftsmen in Mexico who twisted wire baskets. With this last, Ruth had found her medium and her lifelong obsession. Her own wire structures became graceful, weightless works of art, looped structures that invited others to look closely and imagine what they see, providing inspiration to future young artists. Charcoal-and–colored-pencil drawings combine with hand-painted and monoprinted paper in a striking collage representation of Asawa’s work. D’Aquino provides close-ups of the snail and dragonfly, a landscape layout of basket craftsmen, and a geometric kaleidoscope of squares layered upon squares, offering a variety of perspectives and media. An author’s note explains her inspiration for the book and offers sobering facts about the Asawa family’s internment in various camps—facts that are omitted from the story proper. Additional resources enable young artists to discover this artist’s work for themselves and offer step-by-step instructions to create a folded paper dragonfly.
This distinctive biography brims with artistic vision as it informs about a signature sculptor. (Picture book/biography. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-61689-836-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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