This large-format, 120-page Australian import is an exhaustive exposition of a unique art form, letter art.
In a two-page preface, Coote notes that the advent of the Apple Macintosh computer in the 1980s gave graphic designers access to a multitude of typefaces and the ability to freely manipulate letterforms to create “a kind of alphabetical sculpture, or pictorial anagram.” She defines her three rules for letter art by skill level. Beginners should use letters any way they choose; more-advanced practitioners should “use only the letters found in the correct spelling of the name” of their subject; and “Designers” should “use only the correct spelling and only one font per letter.” The book is divided into three sections: “Architext,” depicting architecture and famous monuments; “Alphabeasts,” showing a range of animals, complete with instructions and puzzles; and “Letterheads,” with instructions on how to portray facial features using letters along with skillful depictions of historical characters, artists, and showbiz personalities. (Frida Kahlo’s face lends itself well to this type of portrayal.) The visual puzzles are amusing and intriguing, but the text is written in a juvenile, "how to do it" mode, implying a level of practical potential that will ultimately disappoint many kids who would like to create these types of images, as most are unlikely to have the skills or technical resources required.
As an album of the art form, impressive; as instruction in it, less so. (Nonfiction. 8-14)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9924917-2-7
Page Count: 120
Publisher: Melbournestyle Books/Trafalgar
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS
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BOOK REVIEW
Can this really be the first time readers meet the Legendary Alston Boys of Logan County? Cousins and veteran sleuths Otto and Sheed Alston show us that we are the ones who are late to their greatness.
These two black boys are coming to terms with the end of their brave, heroic summer at Grandma’s, with a return to school just right around the corner. They’ve already got two keys to the city, but the rival Epic Ellisons—twin sisters Wiki and Leen—are steadily gaining celebrity across Logan County, Virginia, and have in hand their third key to the city. No way summer can end like this! These young people are powerful, courageous, experienced adventurers molded through their heroic commitment to discipline and deduction. They’ve got their shared, lifesaving maneuvers committed to memory (printed in a helpful appendix) and ready to save any day. Save the day they must, as a mysterious, bendy gentleman and an oversized, clingy platypus have been unleashed on the city of Fry, and all the residents and their belongings seem to be frozen in time and place. Will they be able to solve this one? With total mastery, Giles creates in Logan County an exuberant vortex of weirdness, where the commonplace sits cheek by jowl with the utterly fantastic, and populates it with memorable characters who more than live up to their setting.
This can’t be the last we ever hear of the Legendary Alston Boys of the purely surreal Logan County—imaginative, thrill-seeking readers, this is a series to look out for. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: April 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-328-46083-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Versify/HMH
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
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PERSPECTIVES
Sixth-graders Logan and Benedict are zapped by a mathematics-loving robot, numbing them to the power of numbers.
Benedict cannot obey the rules, and Logan tries to keep his buddy in check in this over-the-top school fantasy. While on a boring trip to the Mobius Mathematical Museum, Benedict sees a restricted experimental area, roped-off and forbidden. Of course he ducks under the ropes and into danger. Soon, the boys meet Dr. Thagoras and his amazing robot, Cypher. After they insult the robot, he zaps all number knowledge out of their brains. Only relearning math in the controlled environment of the museum will allow them to regain the use of the mathematical parts of their brains. What raises this from sheer silliness is the way the boys earn their math powers back. First, they learn addition and subtraction and think they are done. But no, they need to remaster multiplication and division, geometry and probability as well. The tests the boys have to pass are enjoyable and entertaining, stretching readers’ brains and reinforcing the power of math. Teachers will enjoy reading this aloud and challenging their students.
While the plot might be a little thin, the number ideas more than make up for it. The sum of the parts is greater than the whole here, which is probably exactly the point. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4677-0594-3
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Millbrook/Lerner
Review Posted Online: Aug. 27, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2013
Categories: CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS
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