A perennial favorite follows Kellogg's other tall tales (Mike Fink, 1992, etc.). Sally Ann, of course, is the infant prodigy of speed and strength; she heads off alone to the frontier at the age of 8, dresses in a grizzly skin robe, and meets husband-to-be Davy Crockett when she rescues him from dire straits (his head is wedged in the crotch of a tree). She dispatches a tribe of unruly alligators by stirring up a tornado, ``invents'' bald eagles by scaring the color out of their head feathers, and bests legendary Mike Fink. Sally Ann, thoroughly likeable despite her brass and bravado, sports hair like broom straw and Kellogg's trademark round-eyed, ear-to-ear grin. Following another of the artist's conventions, she has animal familiars (two bald eagles and a skunkshe is partial to polecat perfume). The straight-faced recounting of these far-fetched adventures is paced perfectly for a read-aloud; readers will yearn for Kellogg (who includes a careful source note) to hatch still more eggs from his storytelling basket. (Picture book/folklore. 6-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-688-14042-4
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1995
An introduction, with softly colored drawings that—while large and colorful—are sometimes fuzzy. The brief text discusses anatomy, habitat, and how snakes move, feed, and raise their young. Constrictors and poisonous snakes, as well as more common garden varieties, are touched on; the reader is advised that most snakes eat harmful insects and rodents. A world map of poisonous snakes is of limited use: according to the color key, one has an ``average'' chance of meeting a poisonous snake throughout the central portion of South America. Concludes with a brief page of facts, but there are no specialized terms or scientific names. Attractive, but not essential. (Nonfiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-590-44935-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1992
A very slow description, in a melancholy present tense, of the ordinary days of a kind old man named Morris Kaplan, a Holocaust survivor and now owner of a flower store. One day, Morris's two favorite customers—a boy and a girl—invite him to their home for Hanukkah and make him feel as if he is part of a family again. Later, he brings over his menorah, a remnant from before the war, and tells them his history. It is difficult to estimate the impact of this sentimental story, because it is completely overshadowed by Bloom's magnificent illustrations. The pictures are dark, well- defined acrylics, with light that falls on the foreheads and the cheekbones of the figures, reminiscent of Balthus. The expressions on the characters' faces, the tilt of their heads, the way they hold their hands—it's almost unbearably wistful. (Picture book. 6- 10)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-15-200537-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1995
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