A compressed, respectful glimpse at the achievements of a fascinating 19th-century daredevil.
Tavares reanimates the achievements of the French-born tightrope walker Jean-François Gravelet, aka “the Great Blondin”—first to cross over the Niagara River, in 1859.
After the briefest of childhood back stories, the focus is fully on Blondin’s determined dream, hatched while touring the United States with a circus troupe. Blondin acquired backing from a local newspaper and permissions from property owners in both New York and Canada (though crossing the falls themselves was disallowed). A 3-inch-wide rope was stretched 1,100 feet across; a web of guy ropes, set by Blondin himself, stabilized it. Tavares’ straightforward narrative allows Blondin’s feat to shine: the aerialist not only walks to Canada—and back—but performs tricks along the way. Pictures often reveal more than words. A double gatefold’s text reads: “During the summers of 1859 and 1860, Blondin performed on his rope more than a dozen times. With each performance, he tried to do something…that had never, ever been done before.” The illustration (in watercolor, gouache, and pencil) depicts eight Blondins, across the rope’s middle span—walking in shackles, on stilts, with a wheelbarrow, somersaulting. Tavares’ color palette captures the stunning falls, river, and forested slopes in gray-white mist, pastel blues, and soft greens. He varies perspective and depicts period clothing and transportation. Attributed thoughts and quotes are not specifically sourced.
A compressed, respectful glimpse at the achievements of a fascinating 19th-century daredevil. (author’s note, selected bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 6-9)Pub Date: April 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6823-5
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
A succinct, edifying read, but don’t buy it for the pictures.
Abraham Lincoln’s ascent to the presidency is recounted in a fluid, easy-to-read biography for early readers.
Simple, direct sentences stress Lincoln’s humble upbringing, his honesty, and his devotion to acting with moral conviction. “Lincoln didn’t seem like a man who would be president one day. But he studied hard and became a lawyer. He cared about people and about justice.” Slavery and Lincoln’s signature achievement of emancipation are explained in broad yet defined, understandable analogies. “At that time, in the South, the law let white people own black people, just as they owned a house or a horse.” Readers are clearly given the president’s perspective through some documented memorable quotes from his own letters. “Lincoln did not like slavery. ‘If slavery is not wrong,’ he wrote to a friend ‘nothing is wrong.’ ” (The text does not clarify that this letter was written in 1865 and not before he ascended to the presidency, as implied by the book.) As the war goes on and Lincoln makes his decision to free the slaves in the “Southern states”—“a bold move”—Lincoln’s own words describe his thinking: “ ‘If my name ever goes into history,’ Lincoln said, ‘it will be for this act.’ ” A very basic timeline, which mentions the assassination unaddressed in the text, is followed by backmatter providing photographs, slightly more detailed historical information, and legacy. It’s a pity that the text is accompanied by unremarkable, rudimentary opaque paintings.
A succinct, edifying read, but don’t buy it for the pictures. (Informational early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-243256-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2017
The legions of fans who over the years have enjoyed dePaola’s autobiographical picture books will welcome this longer gathering of reminiscences. Writing in an authentically childlike voice, he describes watching the new house his father was building go up despite a succession of disasters, from a brush fire to the hurricane of 1938. Meanwhile, he also introduces family, friends, and neighbors, adds Nana Fall River to his already well-known Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs, remembers his first day of school (“ ‘ When do we learn to read?’ I asked. ‘Oh, we don’t learn how to read in kindergarten. We learn to read next year, in first grade.’ ‘Fine,’ I said. ‘I’ll be back next year.’ And I walked right out of school.”), recalls holidays, and explains his indignation when the plot of Disney’s “Snow White” doesn’t match the story he knows. Generously illustrated with vignettes and larger scenes, this cheery, well-knit narrative proves that an old dog can learn new tricks, and learn them surpassingly well. (Autobiography. 7-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-399-23246-X
Page Count: 58
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1999
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