Eloquent for all its brevity, this fictional soldier’s reminiscence traces nearly the whole real history of the Buffalo Soldiers, from the Indian Wars to WWII, and is reinforced by both a meaty introduction and a closing bibliography. No longer a slave, but seeing no future in sharecropping, the narrator writes, “I walk to New Orleans and put by X on the line / when I hear tell the U.S. Army is looking for young Negro men / to serve on the Western frontier.” Through the course of a decades-long career, he faces challenges from a drill sergeant “mean as a skunk” to attacks by bandits and Apache while escorting surveyors and settlers, recalling good times and bad, and even a charge up San Juan Hill in the Spanish American War. He closes with an old man’s ruminations on the familiar sounding complaints of his grandson, who writes from another war about mean sergeants and bad food: “I just have to smile, and nod my head. / You see, once I was a soldier, too.” Himler’s full-bleed western scenes add proper amounts of drama, touches of humor and natural-looking details to this engrossing tribute. (Picture book/nonfiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2006
ISBN: 1-58980-391-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Pelican
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
By 1776 the British army had taken control of two key areas, New York City and Long Island Sound. For Hannah, nine, and her family, the troops are a real threat to their community, just across the sound in Fairfield, Connecticut. Hannah’s older brother Ben wants to go join the forces under General Washington, but his father will have none of it at first; when British warships are sighted he reluctantly gives the boy his blessing. For two days the female members of the household spin, weave, and sew suitable clothing; Hannah, who has never been good at domestic duties, is afraid she won’t be able to do her part, but masters her chores. Van Leeuwen makes this story—the first in the Pioneer Daughters trilogy—compelling through the picture of daily life during the era: Everyone does everything that needed to be done, whether they wanted to or not. It’s clear that Hannah has plans beyond the household; her saving of a baby lamb, and the influence of her Granny Hannah, who was a midwife and nurse, indicate that someday she will move on, but meanwhile, there is work to be done for the family’s survival. Her story—especially the details that are usually relegated to sidebars and laundry lists in history books—will entertain and inspire anyone who is interested in the past. (b&w illustrations, not seen, map) (Fiction. 7-10)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8037-2335-0
Page Count: 87
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Readers won’t find this neighbor strange; he merely entertains an age-old desire to fly. But hark back a 120 years, when this story takes place, and one can begin to appreciate the skeptics who surround Melville Murrell, technically the creator of the first human-powered airplane two decades before the Wright brothers. To the narrator, it’s strange that “our neighbor” studies birds, makes drawings, and tries to be airborne. The title sentence becomes a bleating refrain, turning the book into a one-kick joke when Murrell’s contraption flies and the narrator is almost rendered speechless. Krudop’s paintings, with their great slabs of vibrant color, are atmospheric delights, conjuring up Murrell as the eccentric his neighbors believe him to be, and the era as one in which innovators were no more appreciated—at least till they struck it rich—than they are today. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-531-30107-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
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