On a tour of southern India, the authors are so entranced by Drona, the lead Royal Elephant of the maharaja of Mysore, and the stories his mahout (trainer) tells that the celebrated children’s-book duo decides to return to southern India for the Dasara festival in order to see Drona lead an annual ceremonial procession. As in the pair’s earlier Gorilla Walk (1999), illustration styles are mixed here, from Ted Lewin’s rich, layered watercolors to Betsy Lewin’s funny, sketchy vignettes. The artists’ return is bittersweet: Drona has met with an untimely end but will be replaced by Balarama, another magnificent elephant that will bear the weight of the ceremonial howdah for the first time. An extended snapshot of the animal, its care and importance to the people of India, the book provides a pleasing mixture of the authors’ observations, descriptions of local traditions and a stately depiction of the great beast, all holding together nicely in a flowing narrative. (map, endnotes, glossary) (Informational picture book. 7-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-60060-265-8
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2009
paper 0-7894-2536-4 In Cazet’s saga of two bovines, Minnie and Moo are enjoying a sunset when sounds of a dance at the farmer’s home drift up to them. Minnie, the sharp one, suggests to Moo, the dim one, that they attend. They rifle through an old trunk in the barn for dresses, deodorant, hair coloring, and a girdle for Minnie. They appear at the dance, are mistaken by the farmer’s wife for her husband’s twin sisters, are introduced to a couple of country boys, and get down to business. The two couples retire to the food table and start eating until Minnie realizes they are snacking on hamburgers—very likely the Holsteins that had gone missing earlier in the evening; “I’m sorry, Madge,” Moo said. “I didn’t know it was you.” They beat a hasty retreat, give the hamburgers a proper burial, and leave readers with much to chew over—for starters, cannibalism and a strip tease—but it’s presented in a winning format, with so much humor and dash, that the proper response is to not take it seriously. (Picture book. 7-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-7894-2515-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1998
Maggie is spending her holiday with her parents and her stuffed tiger at the sea, but her parents' idea of a good time is relaxing for hours in the sun, and her tiger is not really made for water sports. Maggie is left to her own devices. For a while she occupies herself making sand castles and collecting shells, but she is lonely. Then one day Maggie finds Mia the cat, who becomes her summer playmate. Every morning, without fail, she is there on the beach when Maggie arrives. But one day Mia is nowhere to be found. Maggie frantically searches for her friend, and it occurs to her that Mia must be near the fishing boats. Sure enough Mia has stowed away on one of the boats and is now returning to the dock on its prow. Mia sees Maggie and excitedly jumps towards her. She lands in the water, but they fish her out. On Maggie's last day of vacation, she smuggles Mia into her parents' car. Maggie's mother asks innocently about the cat as Maggie and her father share a secret wink and Mia purrs her contentment. An appealing story for young animal lovers from HÑnel (Lila's Little Dinosaur, p. 1530). (Fiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1994
ISBN: 1-55858-314-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1994
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