An exploration of one of the last of a vanishing breed of travelling entertainments—the Clyde Beatty-Cole Brothers Circus. Johnson (Jack Creek Cowboy, 1993, etc.) goes behind the scenes during the setting up of the big top and follows performers in their off moments as well as center ring. Skillful full-color photographs depict some of the excitement, and special terms (defined in context) give the sense of just how exotic circus life is. The text is broad and understandably superficial in scope; such an introduction should not have to dig into every aspect of its subject. But when Johnson does get specific, as in explaining how a young woman hangs by her hair, the information is so fresh and unusual as to make the rest of the book mundane by comparison. (Picture book/Nonfiction. 4-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-8037-1602-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1995
An impending school visit by a celebrity chef sends budding cook Ollie into a tailspin. He and his classmates are supposed to bring a favorite family food for show and tell, but his family doesn’t have a clear choice—besides, his little sister Rosy doesn’t like much of anything. What to do? As in their previous two visits to Room 75, Kenah builds suspense while keeping the tone light, and Carter adds both bright notes of color and familiar home and school settings in her cartoon illustrations. Eventually, Ollie winkles favorite ingredients out of his clan, which he combines into a mac-and-cheese casserole with a face on top that draws delighted praise from the class’s renowned guest. As Ollie seems to do his kitchen work without parental assistance, a cautionary tip or two (and maybe a recipe) might not have gone amiss here, but the episode’s mouthwatering climax and resolution will guarantee smiles of contentment all around. (Easy reader. 6-7)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-06-053561-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An accessible call to appreciate nature.
A tree waits…and waits…for humans to pay attention in Dee’s picture book.
In the late 1700s, a sapling wants to enjoy the presence of all other living creatures. But while most animals will stop and sit with the small tree, one group will not: humans. First represented by a group of Native hunters, then by European settlers in covered wagons and Puritan home builders, the humans go about their own business, never stopping to sit with the tree. In a repeated refrain, the seeking tree asks, “Will you sit with us?” An older voice of the forest answers, “They are busy, Young One.” Each time, the tree grows more frustrated, until the forest is cleared away, first for farmland, then a city, and finally a futuristic megalopolis. In this last setting, the tree stands alone and is finally approached by a human family in space suits, who sit with the tree and gather its seeds, hopeful for the future. Dee and Oldaker create beautiful painted illustrations; the natural world’s beauty is highlighted even as it diminishes in each spread until it is overtaken. The impact of the images, and of the frustration in the seeking tree’s repeated text, ably communicates the message of how important it is to commune with the natural world.
An accessible call to appreciate nature.Pub Date: March 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781736209325
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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