The Venetian Renaissance painter Tintoretto had a daughter named Marietta, whom he dressed in boy’s clothing so she could accompany him freely. In this story, Marietta loves her father’s gift of a box of paints, brushes, and chalks. A sea captain comes to Tintoretto to have his portrait painted, and Marietta notices the captain’s slave boy, Piero, sketching on the street below. The two discover their mutual delight in drawing, but Marietta realizes that Piero will never have a chance to be an artist if he sets sail again. So she gives him her paint box and her boat so he can return to his family. East’s beautiful paintings range from near-photographic representations of the streets and canals of Venice to dreamlike visions where Marietta and Piero’s faces glow in a luminous landscape of ships, flora, and fauna. Piero is an invention, but Marietta was real, an accomplished artist who died in childbirth at age 34. A fanciful and romantic story, vibrantly painted, providing children an opportunity to think about the making of art, the making of gender roles, and the making of history. (author’s note) (Picture book. 7-10)
Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 1-55041-801-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Fitzhenry & Whiteside
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2003
In these 12 retellings, the Immortals come across as unusually benign. Dionysius at first suggests to King Midas that he give his excess wealth to the poor, for instance; the troubles that Pandora releases are originally imprisoned in the box by Prometheus’s brother Epimetheus out of compassion for humankind; and it’s Persephone herself who begs for a compromise that will allow her to stay with her beloved Hades for six months out of every year. Kimmel relates each tale in easy, natural-sounding language. And even though his Andromeda looks more Celtic than Ethiopian (as the oldest versions of the story have it), Montserrat’s figures combine appropriate monumentality with an appealing expressiveness. The stories are all familiar and available in more comprehensive collections, but the colorful illustrations and spacious page design make this a good choice for shared reading. (foreword) (Nonfiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-4169-1534-8
Page Count: 112
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2007
In this first of the Dragon Slayers' Academy series, Wiglaf, the put-upon sensitive son in a family of louts, heads off to school along with his faithful pet pig, Daisy. On the way, he meets a wizard who gives him a magic sword, although he has forgotten the magic words to make it work, and gives Daisy the power of speech (in pig latin). Once at the Academy, Wiglaf discovers that it's not all it's advertised to be, and his first chance to slay a dragon comes all too soon. This lightweight, amusing adventure rattles right along, without pretensions and with, given the series title, a resolution that cleverly avoids violence—Wiglaf slays the dragon with bad jokes. An entertaining confection. (b&w illustrations, not seen) (Fiction. 7-10)
Pub Date: Oct. 13, 1997
ISBN: 0-448-41727-8
Page Count: 92
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1997
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