An engaging story for young readers eager to look at the world with an artist’s eye.
A reluctant schoolboy is sent to study the works of Edgar Degas at the fictional Museum of Fine Art in Isaacson’s debut, which features full-color reproductions.
When Jack Hughes, a skateboard enthusiast, arrives at school one morning, his teacher sends him off to the city’s art museum in a bid to get the young boy to improve his essay writing. With its “polished ivory marble floors” and a “humorless, uniformed man” standing around, the museum intimidates the young lad. The 13 Degas paintings—featuring “[s]cenes of girls in frilly ballet tutus,” “a plump lady singing in an outrageous red dress” and “a shopping scene in a lady’s hat shop”—don’t do much to raise his spirits. At first, this may not seem to be the most exciting premise, yet Isaacson’s attempt to make fine art exciting in the form of a story for children is nevertheless a satisfying examination of Edgar Degas’ artwork, as well as a painting by Frederic Remington, which “[m]agnetically” pulls Jack in. (Not that it’s a wholly original idea; readers might be reminded in particular of James Mayhew’s Katie series.) Degas, who had a lifelong love of music and opera, acquired a reputation as a painter of dancers. Together with Jack, readers are able to study the paintings in impressive detail, while the author’s enthusiasm becomes infectious as the book looks deeper into 19th-century rooms and parlors; eventually, the voice of one of the painting’s subjects also discusses the various paintings with Jack. With its fairly wordy text and analyses of art, this book might not sit easily on picture-book shelves, but it will appeal to a relatively older audience looking for a quirky intro to Degas’ place in impressionism.
An engaging story for young readers eager to look at the world with an artist’s eye.Pub Date: May 30, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-9844938-4-5
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Lexingford Publishing
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Playful, engaging, and full of opportunities for empathy—a raucous storytime hit.
Readers try to dislodge a monster from the pages of this emotive and interactive read-aloud.
“OH NO!” the story starts. “There’s a monster in your book!” The blue, round-headed monster with pink horns and a pink-tipped tail can be seen cheerfully munching on the opening page. “Let’s try to get him out,” declares the narrator. Readers are encouraged to shake, tilt, and spin the book around, while the monster careens around an empty background looking scared and lost. Viewers are exhorted to tickle the monster’s feet, blow on the page, and make a really loud noise. Finally, shockingly, it works: “Now he’s in your room!” But clearly a monster in your book is safer than a monster in your room, so he’s coaxed back into the illustrations and lulled to sleep, curled up under one page and cuddling a bit of another like a child with their blankie. The monster’s entirely cute appearance and clear emotional reactions to his treatment add to the interactive aspect, and some young readers might even resist the instructions to avoid hurting their new pal. Children will be brought along on the monster’s journey, going from excited, noisy, and wiggly to calm and steady (one can hope).
Playful, engaging, and full of opportunities for empathy—a raucous storytime hit. (Picture book. 2-7)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5247-6456-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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