Readers looking to learn about Marco Polo will do better looking elsewhere.
As a scribe works, a child visits him, curious to hear the stories he has transcribed about Marco Polo.
Legendary traveler and explorer Marco Polo left his home in Venice, Italy, at the age of 17 only to return 27 years later, aged 44. Following his return he was captured and spent a year in prison due to his participation in the battles between Venice and Genoa. It was during this time that he dictated his memoirs to a fellow prisoner and scribe. Many have doubted the veracity and accuracy of his adventures. In this account Rosen sidesteps the debate by focusing more on impressions and vignettes than on actual stories. He does this in the form of a conversation that takes place between a visiting child and a scribe. Unfortunately, the device feels contrived and unconvincing, and the few facts learned will leave readers with more questions than answers. Using a combination of acrylic paint and airbrushing, Pritelli’s textured and evocative artwork is a visual delight. At times, though, there seems to be a disconnect between art and text. For example, a beautiful pastoral scene of horses in a meadow with a snow-capped mountain in the background bears no connection with anything in the text, which describes “fountains of black oil spewing from the ground!” The child’s dialogue is printed in a thin, sans serif type that occasionally blends into the backgrounds.
Readers looking to learn about Marco Polo will do better looking elsewhere. (map, foreword, notes) (Informational picture book. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-56846-290-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Creative Editions/Creative Company
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
Washington remains an historic hero despite flaws and defeats. These are recounted in far more accomplished biographies, and...
By the age of 15, George Washington had written out a list of precepts taught to him by his teachers, the “Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation,” by which he lived and was guided throughout his life.
Excerpts from this little-known historical document appear throughout this stolid picture-book biography of our first president, in which Washington describes some salient details of his life and career in the first person. The rules are worthy, but readers will note that there is usually no relationship between them and the facts presented on the same page. While the volume is stirring, there is no cohesion to the narrative, and it will not even serve report writers, as most dates and events go unmentioned, as do many highlights of Washington’s story. Only the notes to the artwork provide some factual context. Young readers wondering if Washington ever faced any setbacks will find no evidence of them here. What emerges from these pages is a larger-than-life icon with no warts. Wimmer’s paintings are masterful and dramatic, though some seem stiffly posed. The cover portrait is certainly rousing.
Washington remains an historic hero despite flaws and defeats. These are recounted in far more accomplished biographies, and children will be better served by reading about the real man elsewhere. (author’s note, artist’s note, bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 8-11)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4169-5482-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2011
Reductionist history in an unnecessary novelty format.
A miscellaneous collection of factlets about three pre-Columbian civilizations are presented on board pages suggesting a Mesoamerican step pyramid in this latest title in the publisher's “shape book” series.
Each section includes a map and mentions an important archeological site—the Maya Chichén Itzá, the Aztec Templo Mayor and the Inca Machu Picchu—but provides no dates. Readers may be intrigued by Maya beauty ideals, the Aztec ball game and Inca goldwork. Maya and Aztec calendars are shown, as well as pictures of Aztec and Inca warriors and weaponry. Ružicka describes the end of the Aztec and Inca empires at the hands of Spanish conquistadors but ignores the collapse of the Maya. There is a recipe for Maya hot chocolate that neglects to say when the almonds listed in the ingredients should be added and a description of Tenochtitlán that does not mention that it underlies the center of present-day Mexico City. Kleinová’s illustrations range from moderately realistic pictures of people at work and play to cartoonlike glyphs. No sources are actually provided for any of the information or illustrations. Readers curious about this history will find much more in Peter Lourie’s Lost Treasure of the Inca (1999), Mystery of the Maya (2001) and Hidden World of the Aztec (2006).
Reductionist history in an unnecessary novelty format. (Informational novelty. 8-11)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-55407-933-9
Page Count: 30
Publisher: Firefly
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2011
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