Chutkow weaves a tender, detail-rich story of how kindness and faith in the inherent goodness of an animal can turn a...
A heartwarming tale of a street dog from India and her faithful human companions.
Journalist Chutkow (VISA: The Power of an Idea, 2001, etc.) opens a door into his personal life as he narrates the charming story of Zelda, the Indian scavenger dog. Befriending a scruffy street dog was one of the last things on the author’s mind while working as an AP journalist in India under Indira Gandhi’s rule. However, this ragamuffin “monster” and “trollop” of a dog wheedled her way into the Chutkow’s life. She became a steadfast companion to the author, his wife and newborn son through her “boundless courage, humor and high spirits.” When Chutkow was reassigned to Paris, Zelda followed. Parisians turned their nose up at the little urchin, but the author leaned on Zelda’s friendship when his son had several medical emergencies. Interspersed among trips to the hospital are amusing stories of Zelda growing addicted to Camembert cheese, warm croissants and homemade borscht. Eventually, Zelda gained renown in Paris when she helped police apprehend a burglar. Suddenly, she was the “Queen of Paris” and “the very picture of European refinement.” And yet, writes the author, “she remained the high-spirited, impulsive Indian street girl, charming, capricious, and totally untamed, just as she had been born to be. After more than a decade in Paris with luxurious vacations in Sardinia, Chutkow returned to America with his family and Zelda.
Chutkow weaves a tender, detail-rich story of how kindness and faith in the inherent goodness of an animal can turn a vagabond into a loving member of the family.Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7627-7147-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Lyons Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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