A vividly written work of juvenile fiction that mixes fantasy and suspense with messages of empowerment, history, art, and...
In this adventure for middle-grade readers, a young girl regains her self-confidence and discovers the power of knowledge when she travels back in time to visit great artists of the past.
Sixth-grader Lucy Nightingale blanks out in class one day and finds that she’s lost the “confident part of herself, the Lucy who loved school, the Lucy who could give wonderful oral reports and got A’s.” The following morning, a strange new teacher named Arabella Lang asks Lucy to write a report on what Botticelli’s “Primavera,” Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa,” Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling, Pontormo’s “Four Women,” and Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” say about the artists themselves. Lucy calls upon the Wise Ones, “magic beings who listen for children’s wishes,” for help. A response comes in the form of a bespectacled, endearing, talking corgi dog named Wilbur, who serves as her guide for a time-traveling journey involving crystals, synchronized “wavelengths,” and a gadget called the Navigator. First up is Botticelli’s studio; there, Lucy says of one work, “It’s a wonderful painting. I’m sure lots of people will want to buy it.” (In an apparent oversight, she repeats this phrase four pages later, referring to another painting.) Later, she and Wilbur view “grumpy” Michelangelo’s Sistine ceiling in progress, and they visit Leonardo’s studio, which is filled with his inventions. The reclusive Pontormo’s “Four Women” makes Lucy catch her breath: “You see bigness and bright color in the world,” she tells him. She also encounters Van Gogh in his St. Remy asylum; Lodge portrays him with affecting sensitivity. Throughout this entertaining, fantastical debut, the author brings the artists and their paintings to life with resonant, informed vignettes. Each funny or soulful encounter gives Lucy opportunities to realize that she’s also an original, smart thinker. Lodge also shows Lucy taking on challenges, such as when the Navigator and Wilbur succumb to a virus; as a result, the faulty instrument lands the travelers in the path of Hannibal and his war elephants and takes them to an Egyptian pyramid and inside Van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” where “Vincent’s crashing sky rose up like a sea monster.” In the end, Lucy is ready for class, thanks to all the insights she’s gained from her adventures.
A vividly written work of juvenile fiction that mixes fantasy and suspense with messages of empowerment, history, art, and science.Pub Date: Nov. 24, 2014
ISBN: 978-0996088534
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Wilwahren Press
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A book that will make young dog-owners smile in recognition and confirm dogless readers' worst suspicions about the mayhem caused by pets, even winsome ones. Sam, who bears passing resemblance to an affable golden retriever, is praised for fetching the family newspaper, and goes on to fetch every other newspaper on the block. In the next story, only the children love Sam's swimming; he is yelled at by lifeguards and fishermen alike when he splashes through every watering hole he can find. Finally, there is woe to the entire family when Sam is bored and lonely for one long night. Boland has an essential message, captured in both both story and illustrations of this Easy-to-Read: Kids and dogs belong together, especially when it's a fun-loving canine like Sam. An appealing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-8037-1530-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996
A nice but not requisite purchase.
A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.
Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.
A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7915-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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