A parable of creativity fails to deliver enough story to hang its message on. Milli is clever: she “could take a thing that was a nothing . . . and make it . . . a something!” But she timidly hides all her tinkering with these somethings and makes her stolid living as a shoemaker—until Jack and the Dancing Cat, two wandering minstrels, come to town. They teach her to dance in exchange for new boots, and this unleashes Milli’s creativity to the point that when Jack and the Dancing Cat move on, Milli has transformed her yard into a Seussian spectacle of whimsical art. King’s delicate ink-and-watercolor illustrations are full of color and movement, the renderings of Milli’s art wonderfully twirly and loopy (in both senses of the word). But for all its sweetness, the story really doesn’t go much further than the basic celebration of creativity and exhortation to bravery. There’s a raft of picture books on the theme out there; with such examples as Peter H. Reynold’s The Dot (2003) available, this stands as an additional purchase. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-399-24240-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2004
It takes a village to make a school. In Chad, big brothers and sisters lead the way for younger children on the first day of school. Little Thomas is full of questions. When he and the other children arrive, there are no classrooms and no desks. But the teacher's there, holding a trowel. "We will build our school," she declares. Everyone sets to work, making mud bricks that dry in the sun and a roof out of grass and saplings. Thomas loves his lessons; every day he learns something new. At the end of the school year, the minds of the students "are fat with knowledge." And just in time: The rainy season arrives and makes short work of the schoolhouse. Come September, they'll start all over. Rumford's illustrations make great use of color, dark brown skin and bright shirts, shorts and dresses against golden backgrounds, the hues applied in smudgy layers that infuse each scene with warmth—until the gray rains arrive. It's a nifty social-studies lesson tucked into a warm tale of community. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-547-24307-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2010
None
One more myth dispelled for all the students who believe that their teachers live in their classrooms. During the last week of school, Mrs. Hartwell and her students reflect on the things they will miss, while also looking forward to the fun that summer will bring. The kids want to cheer up their teacher, whom they imagine will be crying over lesson plans and missing them all summer long. But what gift will cheer her up? Numerous ideas are rejected, until Eddie comes up with the perfect plan. They all cooperate to create a rhyming ode to the school year and their teacher. Love’s renderings of the children are realistic, portraying the diversity of modern-day classrooms, from dress and expression to gender and skin color. She perfectly captures the emotional trauma the students imagine their teachers will go through as they leave for the summer. Her final illustration hysterically shatters that myth, and will have every teacher cheering aloud. What a perfect end to the school year. (Picture book. 5-8)
None NonePub Date: Feb. 1, 2006
ISBN: 1-58089-046-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2006
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