In an entry in the Media Workshop series, Pellowski shows young enthusiasts how to do it like the pros. It's not all superheroes either—Archie, the Simpsons, and animal figures put in appearances; romances, underground comix, humor magazines, and graphic novels receive nods, too. The book opens with a colorful, coherent history of comic books, from the Yellow Kid to Art Spiegelman's Maus and the Ninja Turtles, then charts the process of making a comic book: how writers and editors develop ideas; the roles of pencillers, inkers, and letterers in visual design; preparation of the art; creation of a cover. This is aimed at amateurs, so mass production and marketing techniques are barely mentioned, but the advice on fleshing out characters, arranging panels, creating continuity, etc., comes with specific examples; a light tone makes the whole enterprise less intimidating, more play than work. Aside from pointless full-color photos of teens drawing or reading, the illustrations are generally helpful examples of classic or newly created comic art. A sturdy, how-to companion to Elaine Scott's Funny Papers: Behind the Scenes of the Comics (1993). (glossary, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 10-13)
Pub Date: Dec. 18, 1995
ISBN: 0-8225-2304-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Lerner
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1995
The author of the century-old, still-beloved Little Women led an extraordinarily interesting life herself, as Warrick makes plain in this dutiful biography. Alcott’s often-absent father, full of educational dreams and schemes and a friend of Emerson, her hard-working and hard-pressed mother, and her three sisters (models, as is well-known, for the siblings in the book) moved a great deal as she was growing up. Alcott soon realized that if there was to be money, she had to make it, and found a career writing sensational trash under a pseudonym and wonderful family stories under her own name. The biography opens with the story of Alcott’s letters from a Civil War hospital where she worked as a nurse, published in Boston Commonwealth magazine and her first real literary success. Vignettes and quotations enliven the text, which is written in a direct and straightforward style. Alcott’s work as a feminist and her possible love life are mentioned, if briefly. For those seeking yet another biography, this will serve. (b&w photos, not seen, chronology, notes, glossary, index) (Biography. 10-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7660-1254-9
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Enslow
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
paper 0-395-97499-2 Introducing this overview of everyday life in a Plains Indian village circa 1868 is a map locating tribal lands of the Plains Indians. Contemporary Native Americans pose as models depicting the full regalia of the Cheyenne, Lakota Sioux, Crow, and Blackfeet. In re-enactment style, reminiscent of a visit to a living history village, each “actor” then personifies a member in the family of Real Bird, a northern Cheyenne warrior from the plains of southeastern Montana. A staged full-color photograph of family members engaged in role-specific work, leisure, food preparation, warfare, trade, and ritual is at the center of each spread, surrounded by additional text and captions that expand each topic. Sees the Berries Woman and Pretty Plume Woman demonstrate the construction of a tipi in a frame-by-frame, five-step procedure; warriors and chiefs hold council in a pre-battle ceremony; Timber Leader shows off a bearskin that gives him healing powers. Artifacts such as beadwork, weapons, tools, toys, and medicine objects lend authenticity to this informative survey and history of the culture. (chronology, glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Aug. 23, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-94542-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1999
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