bookshelf

BOSTON TEA PARTY

Name: BOSTON TEA PARTY
Author: Pamela Duncan Edwards
ISBN: 0-399-23357-1

by Pamela Duncan Edwards & illustrated by Henry Cole ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2001

bookshelf

Here is the Boston Tea Party in a format that uses the cumulative repetition of “This is the House that Jack Built” to unfold events. Elementary school teachers introducing the Revolutionary War may find this a novel approach, but the lines are awkward when read aloud, and lack the gentle rhyme and cadence that makes “Jack” a perennial favorite. Edwards begins in India: “These are the leaves that grew on a bush in a far-off land and became part of the Boston Tea Party,” and progresses to the first battles of the wars, concluding with “These are the Americans, independent and free, who honor the soldiers who fought for freedom remembering the tea chests, 340 in number, which bobbed in the harbor stained dark brown. ‘Like a giant teapot!’ shouted the sailors. . . . ” Cole’s illustrations are handsome and humorous, with resolute patriots, an indolent King George, and cheeky mice commenting on the humans while paddling around Boston Harbor in a tea cup. A final double page provides a timeline of events from 1763, the end of the French and Indian War when England decided to keep troops in America, through 1783 and the signing of the Treaty of Paris. A good idea, only partially successful. (Picture book/nonfiction. 8-10)

Pub Date: July 1, 2001

ISBN: 0-399-23357-1

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2001

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
FOUR SEASONS OF FUN
by Pamela Duncan Edwards ; illustrated by Sylvie Daigneault

- BOOK REVIEW
THE PRINCESS PIGTORIA AND THE PEA
by Pamela Duncan Edwards and illustrated by Henry Cole

- BOOK REVIEW
WHILE THE WORLD IS SLEEPING
by Pamela Duncan Edwards and illustrated by Daniel Kirk

bookshelf

THE SCRAMBLED STATES OF AMERICA

by Laurie Keller & illustrated by Laurie Keller ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1998

bookshelf

Imagine the states, Kansas, California, Ohio, and all the rest, as people with toothy grins, ping-pong balls for eyes, pipe cleaner limbs, and full-blown personalities. Imagine, then, that they get together at a party and decide to switch places on the map. In this amusing spoof, Kansas wakes up one morning saying, “I’m not feeling happy at all!” and starts the whole thing. Florida goes to Minnesota, California goes to Wisconsin, Nevada and Mississippi fall in love. Then the trouble starts: Alaska, who had missed company, feels claustrophobic among other states; Kansas finds his place in the middle of the ocean to be a bit too quiet; Minnesota, in Florida’s spot, forgets to pack suntan lotion; and so on. Soon the states are rushing back to their original spots with sighs of relief. Keller, in her first book pushes a silly idea, to great lengths, and will elicit laughs from all those who thought geography was boring. The states are colorful, boastful, belligerent, and charming, in collage illustrations that are full of spontaneous asides and intriguing labels. The states appear in a final gallery, with a few statistics to square off the whole funny enterprise. (Picture book. 8-10)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1998

ISBN: 0-8050-5802-8

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1998

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
BEARS ARE BEST!
by Joan Holub ; illustrated by Laurie Keller

- BOOK REVIEW
WAKE ME UP IN 20 COCONUTS!
by Laurie Keller ; illustrated by Laurie Keller

- BOOK REVIEW
I AM THE SHARK
by Joan Holub ; illustrated by Laurie Keller

bookshelf

THE SINGING ROCK & OTHER BRAND-NEW FAIRY TALES

by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer ; illustrated by Simini Blocker ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 18, 2019

Alert readers will find the implicit morals: know your audience, mostly, but also never underestimate the power of “rock”...

bookshelf

The theme of persistence (for better or worse) links four tales of magic, trickery, and near disasters.

Lachenmeyer freely borrows familiar folkloric elements, subjecting them to mildly comical twists. In the nearly wordless “Hip Hop Wish,” a frog inadvertently rubs a magic lamp and finds itself saddled with an importunate genie eager to shower it with inappropriate goods and riches. In the title tale, an increasingly annoyed music-hating witch transforms a persistent minstrel into a still-warbling cow, horse, sheep, goat, pig, duck, and rock in succession—then is horrified to catch herself humming a tune. Athesius the sorcerer outwits Warthius, a rival trying to steal his spells via a parrot, by casting silly ones in Ig-pay Atin-lay in the third episode, and in the finale, a painter’s repeated efforts to create a flattering portrait of an ogre king nearly get him thrown into a dungeon…until he suddenly understands what an ogre’s idea of “flattering” might be. The narratives, dialogue, and sound effects leave plenty of elbow room in Blocker’s big, brightly colored panels for the expressive animal and human(ish) figures—most of the latter being light skinned except for the golden genie, the blue ogre, and several people of color in the “Sorcerer’s New Pet.”

Alert readers will find the implicit morals: know your audience, mostly, but also never underestimate the power of “rock” music. (Graphic short stories. 8-10)