Another Biesty marvel, the pages thronging with detail and color, bursting at the seams from all the information per square inch, and filled with wonderful oddities secreted in the illustrations (don't miss the prisoner left to rot in the fittingly named ``forget-me-not''). Platt (Stephen Biesty's Cross-Sections: Man-O-War, 1993, etc.) does a good job of explaining the particulars, for it is in the minutiae that this book excels; if you take a step back in order to get a look at the big picture, you will be disappointed. More troubling is the coldness of the book: It is hard to identify with anyone in the castle, hard to get a sense of what they are all about, or what a siege is for, mostly because the castle is never placed in any sort of context. The castle is laid bare, yes, but there is an inertness to it, like a frog on a dissecting table. Technically a gem, but not nearly as satisfying as Macaulay's Castle. (Nonfiction/Picture book. 8+)
Pub Date: Sept. 30, 1994
ISBN: 1-56458-467-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1994
From 1854 to 1930, more than 200,000 orphaned or abandoned boys and girls were cleaned up, dressed in new clothes, and turned over to the custody of the agents of the Children’s Aid Society. These groups of children traveled on “orphan trains” and arrived at the towns of the Midwest and South with the expectation that they would be placed in loving homes. In this companion volume to the award winning Orphan Train Rider: One Boy’s True Story (1996), Warren smoothly recounts seven more stories gathered from interviews and archival research. After a short introduction, she describes the hardship of the neglected and abused children and then the simple plan of finding homes in the West for “homeless children.” Warren begins with the account of Clara Comstock, a former schoolteacher who as an agent made more than 72 trips on the orphan trains. The subjects, now in their late 70s to 90s, look back to their common experiences. Often no one told them why they were going on a train or what was happening; some had happy endings; still others fared not so well. Each chapter has a similar format: one train rider’s story—earliest memories, the departure and train ride, being trouped out in front of strangers, being chosen, what happened their first day of placement, what happened to their siblings, visits from the agents, and the search for their origins. Generously illustrated with black-and-white photographs of people and places as well as reproductions of original source material. As fascinating as the original and a worthy sequel. (index, sources) (Nonfiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-618-11712-1
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Thanksgiving, the myth, surrenders to Thanksgiving, the real story, in this collaboration of historians, scholars, and descendants of the Wampanoag people. The original event, attended by 90 Natives and 52 colonists probably lasted for three days and was held for political reasons. The village, Pauxet, now called Plymouth, was empty of its Native people who died of plague and left their fields, stores of corn, and supplies of baskets and pots. When the English arrived, they used the materials and saw them as God’s providence. The Wampanoag interpreted their use as stealing. Nevertheless, a relationship developed between the decimated Wampanoag and the settlers based on the need for a military alliance of mutual protection against neighboring tribes. A gathering to celebrate the harvest was traditional to both peoples but was unlikely to be called Thanksgiving or to have a religious base. Neither turkey nor cranberries were eaten at the feast. Thanksgiving as we know it today evolved from this first gathering but hardly resembles it. This handsome volume is liberally illustrated with color photographs taken at the Plimoth Plantation with its staff in costumes of the period recreating the early days. Although the explanatory text indicates that the photos are of actors, the captions often do not, which may lead to some confusion. Despite this flaw, the story is well told and brings current scholarship to young people in an accessible form. A chronology, index, and brief explanation of the historical fact-finding process increases the usefulness to teachers and students. For another example on this same subject, see Kate Waters’s Giving Thanks (below). (foreword, bibliography, photo credits) (Nonfiction. 10-13)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7922-7027-4
Page Count: 48
Publisher: National Geographic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2001
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