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FOOTPRINTS ON THE MOON

Name: FOOTPRINTS ON THE MOON
Author: Mark Haddon
ISBN: 978-0-7636-4440-6

by Mark Haddon and illustrated by Christian Birmingham ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2009

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This memory-piece will resonate more with adults of a certain age than with children, but it is a pleasant enough interlude regardless. A grown narrator describes a little boy who years ago “had the solar system on his wall.” Heightened, emotive language describes his particular fascination with the moon, “a small and bald and ordinary / globe of rock / that looped-the-loop / its way through outer space.” This builds to the night of the moon landing, when the little boy sneaks downstairs to watch and “[walk] with them” on television. Birmingham supplies equally emotional illustrations, the slightly-out-of-focus look reinforcing the sense of misty memory. Three wordless double-page spreads take narrator and readers to the lunar surface, the third one placing a boy-sized astronaut right there with Armstrong and Aldrin. In a season full of such exemplary offerings as Brian Floca’s Moonshot (2009), this import, first published in Britain in 1996, ranks as an additional purchase, though it will strike a chord with other moon-watchers whose childhoods included that momentous small step. (Picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: March 1, 2009

ISBN: 978-0-7636-4440-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Candlewick

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2009

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
BOOM!
by Mark Haddon

- BOOK REVIEW
OCEAN STAR EXPRESS
by Mark Haddon & illustrated by Peter Sutton

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THE WATER PRINCESS

by Susan Verde ; illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 13, 2016

Though told by two outsiders to the culture, this timely and well-crafted story will educate readers on the preciousness of...

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An international story tackles a serious global issue with Reynolds’ characteristic visual whimsy.

Gie Gie—aka Princess Gie Gie—lives with her parents in Burkina Faso. In her kingdom under “the African sky, so wild and so close,” she can tame wild dogs with her song and make grass sway, but despite grand attempts, she can neither bring the water closer to home nor make it clean. French words such as “maintenant!” (now!) and “maman” (mother) and local color like the karite tree and shea nuts place the story in a French-speaking African country. Every morning, Gie Gie and her mother perch rings of cloth and large clay pots on their heads and walk miles to the nearest well to fetch murky, brown water. The story is inspired by model Georgie Badiel, who founded the Georgie Badiel Foundation to make clean water accessible to West Africans. The details in Reynolds’ expressive illustrations highlight the beauty of the West African landscape and of Princess Gie Gie, with her cornrowed and beaded hair, but will also help readers understand that everyone needs clean water—from the children of Burkina Faso to the children of Flint, Michigan.

Though told by two outsiders to the culture, this timely and well-crafted story will educate readers on the preciousness of potable water. (Picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-399-17258-8

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: May 17, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
ARE YOU LISTENING?
by Susan Verde ; illustrated by Juliana Perdomo

- BOOK REVIEW
WHO I AM
by Susan Verde ; illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

- BOOK REVIEW
CAN YOU SEE IT?
by Susan Verde ; illustrated by Juliana Perdomo

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MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE

by Marie Bradby & illustrated by Chris K. Soentpiet ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1995

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An inspiring story of young boy's compelling desire to read. As a boy of nine, Booker works in a salt mine from the dark of early morning to the gloom of night, hungry for a meal, but even hungrier to learn to read. Readers follow him on his quest in Malden, Virginia, where he finds inspiration in a man ``brown as me'' reading a newspaper on a street corner. An alphabet book helps, but Booker can't make the connection to words. Seeking out ``that brown face of hope'' once again, Booker gains a sense of the sounds represented by letters, and these become his deliverance. Bradby's fine first book is tautly written, with a poetic, spiritual quality in every line. The beautifully executed, luminous illustrations capture the atmosphere of an African-American community post-slavery: the drudgery of days consumed by back- breaking labor, the texture of private lives conducted by lantern- light. There is no other context or historical note about Booker T. Washington's life, leaving readers to piece together his identity. Regardless, this is an immensely satisfying, accomplished work, resonating first with longing and then with joy. (Picture book. 5- 8)