The 18th-century “blue willow” pattern, with its teahouse, hump-backed bridge, and willow tree, has inspired storytellers to shape a tale about the design’s origins; here the fundamental elements of the story combine in Conrad’s tale of love and loss. A wealthy merchant loves and protects his daughter, Kung Shi Fair, who falls in love with Chang the Good, a humble fisherman. Their romance is kept a secret, but Kung Shi’s father has seen them dallying in the moon pavilion. Afraid of losing her, Kung Shi’s father puts off, time and again, her marriage request. Kung Shi, in desperation, pilots her little boat through a storm to Chang and drowns; Chang is killed accidentally by the villagers, who take his sounds of mourning as the threatening noise of a leopard. The lovers return as birds to the moon pavilion, and the father commissions a plate in their memory. Conrad is gentle with this sad tale, warning readers of the sorrows ahead, and cautioning parents to heed their young when it comes to matters of the heart. Gallagher’s artwork is lovely, crowded with incidentals from the story and setting; the faces are animated, sometimes peeking out at readers, and inviting them into the substantial text. (Picture book. 6-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-399-22904-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1999
Florian’s seventh collection of verse is also his most uneven; though the flair for clever rhyme that consistently lights up his other books, beginning with Monster Motel (1993), occasionally shows itself—“Hello, my name is Dracula/My clothing is all blackula./I drive a Cadillacula./I am a maniacula”—too many of the entries are routine limericks, putdowns, character portraits, rhymed lists that fall flat on the ear, or quick quips: “It’s hard to be anonymous/When you’re a hippopotamus.” Florian’s language and simple, thick-lined cartoons illustrations are equally ingenuous, and he sticks to tried-and-true subjects, from dinosaurs to school lunch, but the well of inspiration seems dry; revisit his hilarious Bing Bang Boing (1994) instead. (index) (Poetry. 8-10)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-202084-5
Page Count: 158
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1999
The way-off-road vehicle (The Magic School Bus and the Electric Field, 1997, etc.) tours the ears, eyes, nose, and skin when the assistant principal, Mr. Wilde, accidentally shrinks the school bus and the children on board, commandeering it to deliver a message to Ms. Frizzle. The vehicle plunges into the eye of a police officer, where the students explore the pupil, the cornea, the retina, and the optic nerve leading to the brain. Then it’s on to other senses, via the ear of a small child, the nose of a dog, and the tongue of the Friz herself. Sidebars and captions add to the blizzard of information here; with a combination of plot, details, and jokes, the trip is anything but dull. The facts will certainly entice readers to learn more about the ways living creatures perceive the world. (Picture book. 6-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-590-44697-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
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