Quibbles aside, Pharoah is himself an inspiration, and most horse-loving children will hang on every word
A racehorse biography for middle graders.
In 2015, American Pharoah became the first horse since Affirmed, in 1978, to win the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont Stakes—thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown. Mickle draws on published accounts and personal interviews to weave together the lives of Pharoah, owner Ahmed Zayat, jockey Victor Espinoza, and trainer Bob Baffert into one narrative, culminating in Pharoah's stellar season. Her writing is at times florid, even repetitive, and tries to find more drama in the story than is actually there (will Pharoah race with ear plugs again?), but she clearly understands horses and conveys Pharoah's personality well. Black-and-white photographs bound into the center lack resolution but do provide some visuals. The backmatter is a strange mixed bag. There is a list of placings in the 2015 Belmont Stakes (but not the Derby or the Preakness), letters written to Pharoah from fans, and a glossary that includes both the terms “instincts” and “foal heat”—but does not define “estrous.” (Appropriately for a book about a racehorse, there’s a fair amount of clinical discussion of racehorse reproduction; other terms readers will encounter include “cover,” “dam,” and variations on “stud.”)
Quibbles aside, Pharoah is himself an inspiration, and most horse-loving children will hang on every word .(Nonfiction. 10-14)Pub Date: March 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-8070-3
Page Count: 232
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Dec. 20, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2017
The life of Manjiro Nakahama, also known as John Mung, makes an amazing story: shipwrecked as a young fisherman for months on a remote island, rescued by an American whaler, he became the first Japanese resident of the US. Then, after further adventures at sea and in the California gold fields, he returned to Japan where his first-hand knowledge of America and its people earned him a central role in the modernization of his country after its centuries of peaceful isolation had ended. Expanding a passage from her Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun (1985, Newbery Honor), Blumberg not only delivers an absorbing tale of severe hardships and startling accomplishments, but also takes side excursions to give readers vivid pictures of life in mid-19th-century Japan, aboard a whaler, and amidst the California Gold Rush. The illustrations, a generous mix of contemporary photos and prints with Manjiro’s own simple, expressive drawings interspersed, are at least as revealing. Seeing a photo of Commodore Perry side by side with a Japanese artist’s painted portrait, or strange renditions of a New England town and a steam train, based solely on Manjiro’s verbal descriptions, not only captures the unique flavor of Japanese art, but points up just how high were the self-imposed barriers that separated Japan from the rest of the world. Once again, Blumberg shows her ability to combine high adventure with vivid historical detail to open a window onto the past. (source note) (Biography. 10-13)
Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2001
ISBN: 0-688-17484-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2000
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The author of The Snake Scientist (not reviewed) takes the reader along on another adventure, this time to the Bay of Bengal, between India and Bangladesh to the Sundarbans Tiger Preserve in search of man-eating tigers. Beware, he cautions, “Your study subject might be trying to eat you!” The first-person narrative is full of helpful warnings: watch out for the estuarine crocodiles, “the most deadly crocodiles in the world” and the nine different kinds of dangerous sharks, and the poisonous sea snakes, more deadly than the cobra. Interspersed are stories of the people who live in and around the tiger preserve, information on the ecology of the mangrove swamp, myths and legends, and true life accounts of man-eating tigers. (Fortunately, these tigers don’t eat women or children.) The author is clearly on the side of the tigers as she states: “Even if you added up all the people that sick tigers were forced to eat, you wouldn’t get close to the number of tigers killed by people.” She introduces ideas as to why Sundarbans tigers eat so many people, including the theory, “When they attack people, perhaps they are trying to protect the land that they own. And maybe, as the ancient legend says, the tiger really is watching over the forest—for everyone’s benefit.” There are color photographs on every page, showing the landscape, people, and a variety of animals encountered, though glimpses of the tigers are fleeting. The author concludes with some statistics on tigers, information on organizations working to protect them, and a brief bibliography and index. The dramatic cover photo of the tiger will attract readers, and the lively prose will keep them engaged. An appealing science adventure. (Nonfiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-618-07704-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
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