bookshelf

I IS FOR INUKSUK

Name: I IS FOR INUKSUK
Author: Mary Wallace
ISBN: 978-1-897349-57-1

AN ARCTIC CELEBRATION

by Mary Wallace & illustrated by Mary Wallace ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2009

bookshelf

Wallace once again pays tribute to the Inuit people and their Arctic home (The Inuksuk Book, 1999, etc.). Unlike similarly titled books, this is not an abecedary; each turn of this work’s pages reveals another letter in the work “Inuksuk,” making it an acrostic. An Inuksuk is a stacked-stone tower used by the Inuit as a communication device. Introducing each letter is a double-page spread illustrating a single word, only one of which—Nanuq—is likely to be familiar to the majority of readers. Following this is another spread of smaller pictures depicting additional information about the same topic or a related one. From Arctic wildlife to the accoutrements of Inuit life, much of what Wallace presents will be unlike readers’ previous experiences, and even the familiar is called by its Inuit name. Backmatter includes a guide to the meanings of the various Inuksuit seen in the text, as well as an invaluable pronunciation guide. Wallace’s illustrations are truly a celebration—hauntingly beautiful and evocative of bygone days. Her color palette is shades of blues, browns and whites, reflecting the Arctic landscape. A stimulating look at an oft-overlooked culture. (Picture book. 5-10)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009

ISBN: 978-1-897349-57-1

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Maple Tree Press

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2009

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

bookshelf

PETE'S A PIZZA

by William Steig & illustrated by William Steig ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 31, 1998

bookshelf

Steig (Toby, Where Are You?, 1997, etc.), inspired by a game he used to play with his daughter, turns a rainy day into a pizza party, starring a caring father and his feeling-blue son, Pete. Just when Pete was set to go play ball with his friends, it starts to rain. His melancholy is not lost on his father: “He thinks it might cheer Pete up to be made into a pizza.” Which is just what the father proceeds to do. Pete is transported to the kitchen table where he is kneaded and stretched, tossed into the air for shaping, sprinkled with oil and flour and tomatoes and cheese (water, talcum, checkers, and bits of paper). He then gets baked on the living room couch and tickled and chased until the sun comes out and it is time to speed outside, a pizza no more, but happy. What leaps from the page, with a dancer’s grace, is the warmth and imagination wrapped in an act of kindness and tuned- in parenting. As always, Steig’s illustrations are a natural—an organic—part of the story, whether Pete’s a pizza, or not. (Picture book. 5-10)

Pub Date: Oct. 31, 1998

ISBN: 0-06-205157-1

Page Count: 32

Publisher: HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1998

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
TOBY, WHO ARE YOU?
by William Steig & illustrated by Teryl Euvremer

- BOOK REVIEW
WHEN EVERYBODY WORE A HAT
by William Steig & illustrated by William Steig

- BOOK REVIEW
POTCH & POLLY
by William Steig & illustrated by Jon Agee

bookshelf

RAPUNZEL

adapted by Rachel Isadora & illustrated by Rachel Isadora ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2008

bookshelf

Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your dreads! Isadora once again plies her hand using colorful, textured collages to depict her fourth fairy tale relocated to Africa. The narrative follows the basic story line: Taken by an evil sorceress at birth, Rapunzel is imprisoned in a tower; Rapunzel and the prince “get married” in the tower and she gets pregnant. The sorceress cuts off Rapunzel’s hair and tricks the prince, who throws himself from the tower and is blinded by thorns. The terse ending states: “The prince led Rapunzel and their twins to his kingdom, where they were received with great joy and lived happily every after.” Facial features, clothing, dreadlocks, vultures and the prince riding a zebra convey a generic African setting, but at times, the mixture of patterns and textures obfuscates the scenes. The textile and grain characteristic of the hewn art lacks the elegant romance of Zelinksy’s Caldecott version. Not a first purchase, but useful in comparing renditions to incorporate a multicultural aspect. (Picture book/fairy tale. 6-8)