For adult Hepburn completists and their extremely patient children.
Audrey Hepburn’s life, presented in a temporally unusual structure by her son and daughter-in-law.
“I was born on May 4, 1929, in Brussels, Belgium,” opens the first-person narration. Newborn Audrey’s short dark hair is already arranged in Hepburn’s signature pixie cut; her tiny-waisted mother wears a fashionista dress and chic hat even while saving infant Audrey from whooping cough. As Audrey grows, there’s a move to Holland, where ice skating is overtaken by war: the Occupation, air raids, and hunger (“the soldiers took all our food. So we ate green-pea bread, dog cookies, and tulip bulbs”). Midbook, the narrative voice changes to the present tense, but it is still wartime. Audrey now rests in bed to “preserve…calories,” daydreaming—still in present tense—adult Hepburn’s (true) future. Audrey playacts “little plays and musicals” (illustrated as her most acclaimed future roles); raises kids (dolls, stuffed animals); and engages in charitable work. The illustrations, featuring pale colors, white space, and neat, skinny-limbed characters, are whimsical and delicate; a scene of Audrey, hungry, standing in the snow to watch officers feast inside a restaurant renders the soldiers goofy and the overall feeling romantic. Hepburn’s adult accomplishments, ensconced inside wartime childhood fancies, sound both milder than reality and vaguer. Readers without vivid Hepburn images already dancing in their minds (that is, most children) will find this bland, with nothing to latch onto. Because child-Audrey never grows up here, her satisfaction at a life well lived strikes a peculiar note.
For adult Hepburn completists and their extremely patient children. (afterwords) (Picture book/biography. 4-7, adult)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-61689-991-2
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
Best read in addition to watching the video, this piece represents an important moment in U.S. history.
Mulford’s song about the tragic church shooting in Charleston in 2015 is transformed into a picture book.
The rhyming lyrics are simple, describing how a stranger came to a house of worship and was “let…in,” though “he was not friend, he was not kin.” The stranger “seemed to pray” but then he “drew a gun / and killed nine people, old and young.” On this spread, white text contrasts with an all-black painted background. President Barack Obama’s appearance with the community of mourners is then pictured with the chorus: “no words could say what must be said / for all the living and the dead // So on that day and in that place / the president sang Amazing Grace.” The painted pictures, with tones of blue, black, and purple, move from the church to a montage of clasped hands, a crowd of mourners, various pictures of Obama, and a spread showing each of the nine victims. The song can be found online, and its performance is deeply moving; in the video, the lyrics and paintings are a stunning combination, making this book seem like a great idea. Without the music though, the book lacks the soulfulness of the video, and the unfinished look of the static paintings is not nearly so effective. Endnotes describe each contributor’s relationship to the work (including performer Joan Baez and filmmaker Rick Litvin) and contain a QR code to access the video; endpapers provide sheet music.
Best read in addition to watching the video, this piece represents an important moment in U.S. history. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-944903-84-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Cameron + Company
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
Swans abound and good defeats evil in a simplified retelling.
A look-and-listen (albeit briefly) adaptation of a favorite ballet story.
A diverse cast of dancers fills the pages of this very basic retelling of a Russian classic of the ballet repertoire. The spread-spanning illustrations are busily filled with lakeside swans sporting fancy, feathery costumes along with many trees, deer, foxes, and rabbits. The palace is pink and glittery and replete with chandeliers, curtains, and fancily costumed guests. There, Odile, malevolent-looking daughter of the evil sorcerer Rothbart, dances with Prince Siegfried and tricks him into believing that she is the lovely Odette, the enchanted swan, who looks bereft. The audience-pleasing national dances of Act 3 are not mentioned in the text nor depicted in the illustrations. Stagings of Swan Lake have always had various endings, some happy and some not so, as Prince Siegfried and his beloved Odette are united only in the afterlife. This version has them living happily ever after on Earth. The gimmick of this title is the 10 brief (10 seconds or so) sound clips that barely hint at the very beautiful score. Adults taking children to a performance may find this useful as an introduction, but listening to a suite of the music would be a better idea. The refreshingly inclusive casting—Siegfried, Odette, and Odile have brown skin, and there are many courtiers of color—does not mitigate the book’s flaws.
Swans abound and good defeats evil in a simplified retelling. (author’s note, glossary) (Picture book/novelty. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-7112-4150-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
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