Affectionate and existential, Daly has well and fully caught Malusi’s immediate circumstance and his horizons.
A day in the life and dreams of a young South African herding boy.
Daly provides an opportunity to witness an everyday existence most likely very different from the one led by readers. Malusi is a Xhosa herder. Daly sketches his day, from his porridge breakfast to taking the sheep and goats out to graze, a little play with his friend, gathering dung to fertilize the garden, a dangerous encounter with a baboon and then home again. There is an elemental rhythm to the story, and the artwork is striking, the colors a mottle of landscape greens and browns, picked out by vivid wildflowers. The author salts the common proceedings with Malusi’s dreams of a better lunch, owning a dog and becoming president of the country one day. (Nelson Mandela makes a brief appearance, reminding readers that he, too, was a herd boy.) Also sprinkled here and there are a sampling of words from South Africa—both Xhosa and Afrikaans; kraal, donga, googa—that are corralled into a glossary, as well as local fauna, from black eagles to puff adders to those opportunistic baboons. Malusi’s life may be cut to the essential, but it is never short on incident and for the need to be on his toes.
Affectionate and existential, Daly has well and fully caught Malusi’s immediate circumstance and his horizons. (Picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5417-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review Posted Online: Aug. 7, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2012
A sometimes heavy-handed and knowing story about a humble small-town termite who “went against the grain.” A trial to his parents, Roberto “melted over maple.” But he wanted to play with wood . . . not eat it. Pining for bright lights, Bug City, he travels to ”Bug Central Station, in the [city’s] busy, buzzing hive . . . where the other termites wouldn’t bug you.” He lives in a “flea bag” hotel and even rooms with a family of bed bugs for whom “he built . . . their very own beds.” With no luck finding an architecture gig, he meets a sobbing houseless fly and a frantic ladybug that cries, “My house is on fire and my children are gone!” Inspired by adversity he draws plans and soon turns a junk-filled lot into a block of custom housing for his homeless friends. Fame and fortune follow and soon he’s an international sensation and an inspiration to creative young termites everywhere. Printed on slick, thick paper, the book features arresting mixed-media collage illustrations that cleverly employ catalog and magazine photos, wood and cork veneers, blueprints, and touches of gouache. Like Laden’s earlier solo work When Pigasso Met Mootisse (1998) and Private I Guana (1995), this entry is satire-heavy with abundant sight gags and snappy wordplay. There are ample references to skylines (New York’s Empire State Building coexists with the Tower of Pisa, San Francisco cable cars and the Space Needle), news personalities (“Barbara Waterbugs” and “Diane Spider”) and architects (“Hank Floyd Mite” and “Fleas Van Der Rohe”). Fun for those in elementary school who just can’t hold out for the next Scieska and Smith collaboration or who will love to discover the hidden pictures-within-the-pictures. Buy for Laden’s many adult fans or those who particularly admire her wry illustrations for Walter Deans Myers’s new Blues of Flats Brown (p. 121). (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-8118-2465-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
What seems to be a paean to originality finds itself in a snarl by the end. Sick of the same old–same old ponytails and braids, spunky, determined Annabelle declares, “This class needs some fashion. / This class needs some fun. / I’ll find a hairdo to impress everyone.” Discovering a picture of her grandmother gives her the idea she's been waiting for: “Oh, please, Mom, please, / can I have a bouffant? / A big bouffant is / all I really want!” The ungainly rhyming verse proceeds to describe Annabelle’s quest to achieve a bouffant and, predictably, the roomful of bouffants that appears once the new style catches on. Equally predictably, Annabelle immediately tires of her new style and begins to make plans for something brand new. The message here is not about a child discovering her identity or peers honoring one another’s differences; instead, Hosford suggests that most people will just mimic the bravest, most confident among them, which is more than a little sad. Nonetheless, Clifton-Brown’s whimsical illustrations manage to give the story a joyful spirit and will no doubt elicit some giggles and inspire a number of new bouffants, the bigger the better. (Picture book. 6-10)
Pub Date: April 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7613-5409-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
