by Rosemary Sutcliff ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1979
If Boudicca's tribe was a matriarchy and she was Queen in her own right, then her vengeance on the Romans for assaulting her person and raping her daughters takes on a different aspect, at once grander and more human. On that premise, Rosemary Sutcliff has recast the life of Boudicca (Boadicea) as it might have appeared to Cadwan, Harper to the Queen—who first fetches back the determined six-year-old when she runs off after the King's war-band. A small wooden sword and a small song are her compensations then; when she has a great sword like her father's, Cadwan tells her, he will make her a great song of the Victories of a Queen. At 13, she accepts and does not accept Prasutagus as her husband; but he has a will and a patience to match hers, and in time she is joyously his wife and the mother of two girls. The tribes, lightly tied to Rome before, must now turn in their weapons—save for the unsuspected swords of the women. A new Emperor, Nero, comes to the throne, and Britain has a new Governor, the celebrated general Paulinus. In this time of changes, of more and harsher regulation, Prasutagus sickens and dies. What could be more obvious to Nero, in the absence of a male heir, than to absorb his people into the Province of Britain? This we hear casually from a young Roman tribune, Gneus Julius Agricola, whose letters to his mother begin at this juncture and thereafter counterpoint Cadwan's narrative. (British children, of course, have the advantage of knowing that this thoughtful, unbellicose youth will be Britain's greatest Roman governor.) Roman officials appear, a drunken insult ends in mass outrage, and Boudicca—her blue eyes now "a dark forest" to Cadwan—rallies the tribes to drive the tyrants out. So begins the onslaught that levels cities, leaves captive women hanging "like dreadful white fruit. . . from the branches of the dark and ancient trees," and climaxes in Londinium with wholesale crucifixion—"a thing that we have learned from the Romans themselves." Then: stalemate. But Paulinus, heading north again, devises a way to turn back the massed might of the tribes; and, Rome triumphant, Boudicca returns home (in this version) to drink poison from the cup of Roman glass that was Prasutagus' gift, her Song of a Queen's Victories still unmade. A stirring, quietly eloquent miniature for young people just dipping their toes in these dark and turbulent waters.
Pub Date: March 1, 1979
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: T.Y. Crowell
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1979
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by Dan Saks ; illustrated by Brooke Smart ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2020
A joyful celebration.
Families in a variety of configurations play, dance, and celebrate together.
The rhymed verse, based on a song from the Noodle Loaf children’s podcast, declares that “Families belong / Together like a puzzle / Different-sized people / One big snuggle.” The accompanying image shows an interracial couple of caregivers (one with brown skin and one pale) cuddling with a pajama-clad toddler with light brown skin and surrounded by two cats and a dog. Subsequent pages show a wide array of families with members of many different racial presentations engaging in bike and bus rides, indoor dance parties, and more. In some, readers see only one caregiver: a father or a grandparent, perhaps. One same-sex couple with two children in tow are expecting another child. Smart’s illustrations are playful and expressive, curating the most joyful moments of family life. The verse, punctuated by the word together, frequently set in oversized font, is gently inclusive at its best but may trip up readers with its irregular rhythms. The song that inspired the book can be found on the Noodle Loaf website.
A joyful celebration. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22276-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Rise x Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
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by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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