The story of the princess Elizabeth who outsmarts a dragon and puts down a prince has stolen the hearts of many. Here, 25 years after the publication of The Paper Bag Princess, is a giddy celebration of the book’s anniversary that also includes the complete original. Readers will find a basic walk-through of the publishing process then and now, plus the inside scoop on the PBP: brief biographies of author and illustrator, how they met, the identity of the “real Elizabeth” and more. It’s fun to learn that in Munsch’s original story, he had the princess punching the prince, but the publisher nixed it in the name of nobility—and that Martchenko’s preliminary last-page sketch showed the princess naked, free of even her paper bag. The book’s success is indeed celebration-worthy, with over three million copies sold in many languages including Arabic, Chinese, Flemish and Dutch (“De prinses in de papieren zak”). It’s a lot of fuss over “that sooty, messy-haired, badly dressed little princess,” but a loving, contagiously enthusiastic tribute nonetheless. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-11)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2005
ISBN: 1-55037-915-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2005
IN THE NEWS
This unabashedly hero-worshipping biography of the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff suffers from the very ``larger-than-life'' portrait it creates. Powell is presented as a seemingly invincible figure whose rise to military heights is simply the natural outcome of hard work and perseverance; the problems of a young black man in attaining such heights are thoroughly glossed over. Blue even seems to imply that while other African-Americans have encountered discrimination, Powell did not. While the book offers young readers a source of basic information on this hero of the 90's, it is hardly an essential purchase. B&w and color photos; chronology; index. (Biography. 8-11)
Pub Date: Dec. 15, 1991
ISBN: 1-56294-052-X
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Millbrook
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1991
BOOK REVIEW
What was it like on that first journey to Jamestown, or in the first years in the New World? Written as though in the words of one of the settlers, this strives to share that experience and includes actual quotes from the diaries and letters of 15 of them. The tale is filled with misadventures, hardships, and dangers right from the inauspicious beginning as ships set sail on Dec. 20, 1606, and then languish, “ ‘but by unprosperous winds, were kept six weekes in sight of England.’ ” It was not until April of 1607 that 104 men and boys reached shore where they were met by hostile Indians and several were wounded. Returning to their ships, they traveled further up the James River and in May reached a peninsula 40 miles up. There they named their settlement James Towne for King James. The settlement did not prosper; George Percy, a Gentleman, notes: “ ‘There were never Englishmen left in a foreigne Countrey in such miserie as wee were in this new discovered Virginia.’ ” Plagued by mosquitoes, hostile Indians, rotten food, fires that nearly destroyed the village, and gentlemen unable or unwilling to work; the colony nearly did not survive. Sewall, who is noted for her young American histories (Pilgrims of Plimoth, 1986, etc.) weaves a fascinating story and illustrates the adventure with her signature watercolor-and-sepia-ink drawings. She concludes with a list of characters quoted, a glossary, and selected source material. The brief quotes from primary sources and the text that elaborates on the quotes make history come alive for young readers. (Nonfiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: May 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-81814-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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