Actually, on several islands in the Chesapeake Bay. Mills (Until the Cows Come Home, not reviewed) is a wonderful photographer, and she shows herself to great advantage in this glossy and exciting collection of images. She presents scenes from an island day: fishing, crabbing, watermen preparing their boats in the early morning. She captures the flora and fauna, the various vessels, and the water meeting the sand, in bright daylight and in the glow of sunset. All these images are spectacular; the narrative, however, although poetic, adds little to the otherwise gorgeous presentation. Mills might have been more courageous to leave out the text entirely. Parents won't want to part with this one, which is just as well since it would make a better coffee-table spectacle than picture book. (Nonfiction/Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1994
ISBN: 1-55858-333-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1994
In a splendid retelling of a great story, Ambrose chronicles Lewis and Clark's epic 1803-06 journey across the continent and back. Thomas Jefferson, more than anyone else, helped to effect the dream of a transcontinental US. As noted historian Ambrose (Univ. of New Orleans; D-Day, 1994, etc.) recounts, Jefferson's first great accomplishment in this regard was the Louisiana Purchase. His second was the dispatching of a US Army "Corps of Discovery" under his neighbor and friend, Captain Meriwether Lewis, to travel by land to the Pacific Ocean in search of a waterway to the West. Lewis, partner William Clark, and their 30-man expeditionary force recorded hundreds of species of birds, plants, and animals not previously known to Western science; mapped the interiors of the country; established ties with Indian tribes of the Northern Plains and the Northwest; and set the stage for the exploitation of the western country, particularly in the fur trade. Also, by Ambrose's account, Lewis and Clark's well-meaning ignorance and diplomatic maladroitness set the tone for early American relationships with Native Americans. Despite their close relationships with some Indians, Lewis and Clark persisted in absurd beliefs about them, some of which were subscribed to by Jefferson, as well (e.g., that Indians were descendants of a long-lost tribe of Welshmen). Although the expedition was a great success and fame and fortune followed, Lewis, now drinking heavily and suffering setbacks in love and politics, fell into a deep depression and committed suicide in 1809. The author speculates that he might have considered his great expedition a failure because the land remained unexploited by Americans. A fascinating glimpse of a pristine, vanished America and the beginning of the great and tragic conquest of the West.
Pub Date: Feb. 15, 1996
ISBN: 0-684-81107-3
Page Count: 608
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1995
GENERAL HISTORY | UNITED STATES | WORLD | MILITARY | HISTORY
SEEN & HEARD
An overview, emphasizing Washington's love of home and family, plus his sense of duty to his country, and touching on significant personal and public events of his youth, leadership during the Revolution, and presidency. Dooling's oil paintings in dignified earth tones, impressionistically rendered but with a traditional flavor, are a fine complement to the text's warm, conversational tone. The brevity here skirts close to oversimplification, but Giblin wisely holds political material to a minimum—though he does mention Washington's ownership of slaves. Supplementary concluding material (``More About George Washington'') includes a chronology (however, days were removed, not added, in the calendar adjustment of 1752); the cherry tree myth; some of Washington's rules for behavior; and information about monuments and Mount Vernon. Index. (Biography. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-590-42550-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 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.
bookshelf
