A picture book aimed at older readers, this fictitious biography of Giotto explains how such an artistically inclined child might have been discovered and mentored. In the Middle Ages there was neither the choice of media nor the sense of permanence associated with art today. Lacking other materials, the boy Giotto probably drew in sand, or on stones with charcoal. His father ignores his talent, wanting his son to help herd the family sheep. He forbids his son to attend a religious ceremony, but from the window the boy spies a wonderful painting carried in the procession. He finds out who created it, and manages to meet the older painter, Cimabue, who gives him colors to work with. After spending a day drawing instead of herding sheep, Giotto hides from his father, whom he expects to be very angry. Instead, his father and Cimabue arrive, and are surprised by his talent. The older artist convinces Giotto’s father to let the boy come study as an apprentice, and it isn’t long before the apprentice surpasses the master. This moving tale will ring true for any child struggling for recognition, both in the world of the arts, and in the world of adults. Landmann’s illustrations make this book especially meaningful: they capture the essence of Giotto’s work without copying him, and there’s both a Byzantine and a modern look to her birds (they are almost all eyes), and the almond-eyed characters that inhabit this elegant story. (Picture book. 8-12)
Pub Date: Oct. 21, 1999
ISBN: 0-374-30931-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 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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