An entertaining, giggleworthy blend of gastronomic history and fiction.
Young Julius Caesar doesn’t want to eat his veggies.
A young Julius Caesar, squat, with a simple, round face, clad in a white toga and sporting a laurel, is interrupted from playing a checkerslike game with his owl companion. His father is throwing a banquet, and Julius must attend for the first time. Rhythmic, rhyming text first describes preparatory traditions, from changing into a more elaborate toga to washing his hands and feet. Children will be more fascinated, however, by the increasingly elaborate, colorfully illustrated dishes served to the finicky Julius. After the boy turns down oysters, peacock, flamingo, stuffed sow’s udders, and boiled camel’s feet, the narrator offers “a plate of sea scorpions— / a sweet custard with fish— / pig lungs stuffed with fresh figs— / veggies and brains in one dish!” The humorous buildup concludes with a relatable scene: The little Caesar may be excused once he finishes his enormous pile of peas. The illustrations maintain a kid’s perspective, with only other children’s faces visible and adult faces cut out of scenes. Julius is tan-skinned; the other children are tan- or brown-skinned. Facts about Julius Caesar and Roman eating customs wrap up the story. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An entertaining, giggleworthy blend of gastronomic history and fiction. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 16, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-951836-48-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cameron Kids
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
The runt of the litter of print titles and websites covering the topic.
This tally of presidential pets reads like a school report (for all that the author is a journalist for Fox Business Network) and isn’t helped by its suite of amateurish illustrations.
Barnes frames the story with a teacher talking to her class and closes it with quizzes and a write-on “ballot.” Presidents from Washington to Obama—each paired to mentions of birds, dogs, livestock, wild animals and other White House co-residents—parade past in a rough, usually undated mix of chronological order and topical groupings. The text is laid out in monotonous blocks over thinly colored scenes that pose awkwardly rendered figures against White House floors or green lawns. In evident recognition that the presidents might be hard to tell apart, on some (but not enough) pages they carry identifying banners. The animals aren’t so differentiated; an unnamed goat that William Henry Harrison is pulling along with his cow Sukey in one picture looks a lot like one that belonged to Benjamin Harrison, and in some collective views, it’s hard to tell which animals go with which first family.
The runt of the litter of print titles and websites covering the topic. (bibliography, notes for adult readers) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-62157-035-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little Patriot Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 30, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
The ultimate home-away-home story, beautifully rendered.
In this true story, an indigenous boy from Tierra del Fuego is transported to London in the early 1800s, where he encounters a vastly different world.
Living on a “faraway island” a boy named Orundellico climbs the tallest trees, views the stars, listens to the ocean and wonders what’s “on the other side.” Strangers arrive in a ship, call him Jemmy Button and invite him to visit their land. Reaching the other side of the ocean, Jemmy finds houses made of rocks “stacked in towers taller than the tallest tree.” The people, colors, noises and costumes make him feel “very small indeed.” Soon, he’s wearing their clothes, attending concerts, and even meeting the king and queen, but he never quite feels at home. When the time comes, he returns to the island, announcing: “My name is Orundellico and I have come home.” The powerful, spare text contrasts Jemmy’s innocent island life with the isolation he feels in England. His alienation is cleverly reinforced by gauche, oil and collage illustrations using flat patterns and color to compare the island’s verdant vegetation and quiet, starry nights with the sterile, geometric shapes of urban London. Diminutive, flesh-colored, bemused Jemmy always stands out in a sea of repetitive, anonymous, faceless silhouettes.
The ultimate home-away-home story, beautifully rendered. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 12, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6487-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Templar/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2013
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