Even before Barnum, there was Bailey: Hackaliah Bailey, an entrepreneur who, in 1808, purchased an elephant from a sea captain and took her back to his farm in Somers, New York, where he housed her in his barn, exhibited her to neighbors, and then took her on the road. In time, he added other animals to create ``Bailey's Traveling Show and Menagerie,'' which toured New York and New England, included clowns and acrobats, and was displayed in ``the first circus tent.'' McClung's engaging fictionalization is interesting as much for the Early American logistics of keeping an elephant as for the events, which are pleasantly enlivened by the presence of Hack's young nephew. Kelly achieves an appropriately old-time flavor with energetic illustrations whose cheerful characterizations and careful definition of forms recall the Petershams. (Young reader/Picture book. 5-10)
Pub Date: March 16, 1993
ISBN: 0-688-10642-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1993
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In somber, repetitive verse, McLerran (Hugs, 1993, etc.) describes the life of bounty that once belonged to native people, how that was changed by the settlers with their plows and guns, and how the prophet Tavibo had a dream about a Ghost Dance that would bring back the past: ``Dance, said the dream. . . ./Dance, and the white men all will disappear,/their horses and their goods remain.'' The magic failed. The book ends with a somewhat sentimental battle cry: ``Maybe if we all dream./Maybe if we all sing./Maybe if we all dance.'' The mystical illustrations convey these images more effectively than the text; in his first book, Morin combines found objects with highly textured oil paintings, creating an atmosphere that is appropriately dark and unsettled. (Picture book. 6-10)
Pub Date: Oct. 23, 1995
ISBN: 0-395-63168-8
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1995
First-grader Bo Dibbs expects fame and fortune when he enters the family dog in the ``Woofies Dog Food'' contest. Dolby, as Bo explains to his class, is a natural winner: he's exceptionally intelligent and has a great woof. Emulating his determined older brother (see Oliver Dibbs to the Rescue!, 1985, etc.), Bo spends weeks training the huge, good-natured Dolby, whose talent reaches troublesome new heights when he learns to answer the telephone. The result is light, episodic fare with minimal characterization, somewhat stereotypical views on older sisters, and a nicely unexpected conclusion. (Fiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: April 24, 1991
ISBN: 0-688-08435-4
Page Count: 117
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1991
© Copyright 2026 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.
