In sparkling, full-bleed watercolors and lively text, Lewin (Market, 1996, etc.) recreates that once-a-year phenomenon—the county fair. He begins with carnival trucks rumbling into the empty fairground. Soon the rides go up ``like giant metal insects emerging from their cocoons . . . the Ferris Wheel, the Tilt-a- Whirl, and the Flying Bobs.'' The ``4-H'ers'' arrive with their livestock and begin to brush and comb, wash and clip, powder and polish. By late afternoon the opening-day parade heads toward the fairground, ending up in front of the jam-packed grandstand. As night falls, a fireworks display kicks off the festivities, and the midway bursts into life. Lewin captures it all from the blaring loudspeaker and bright lights of the midway to the hall where judges pin ribbons on quilts, crafts, fruits, vegetables, and glistening jars of preserves. A wonderful close-up of sheep, hooded and blanketed to keep them clean, contrasts with an aerial view of the carnival at dusk. Before the whole show moves on, Lewin visits the quiet stall housing the world's largest cow, where ``a child with the face of an angel leans against the warm bulk of the great beast and hums softly.'' A pulsing, panoramic examination of a summertime ritual. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-688-12850-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1997
Trickling, bubbling, swirling, rushing, a river flows down from its mountain beginnings, past peaceful country and bustling city on its way to the sea. Hooper (The Drop in My Drink, 1998, etc.) artfully evokes the water’s changing character as it transforms from “milky-cold / rattling-bold” to a wide, slow “sliding past mudflats / looping through marshes” to the end of its journey. Willey, best known for illustrating Geraldine McCaughrean’s spectacular folk-tale collections, contributes finely detailed scenes crafted in shimmering, intricate blues and greens, capturing mountain’s chill, the bucolic serenity of passing pastures, and a sense of mystery in the water’s shadowy depths. Though Hooper refers to “the cans and cartons / and bits of old wood” being swept along, there’s no direct conservation agenda here (for that, see Debby Atwell’s River, 1999), just appreciation for the river’s beauty and being. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: June 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0792-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000
Keena Ford’s second-grade class is taking a field trip to the United States Capitol. This good-hearted girl works hard to behave, but her impulsive decisions have a way of backfiring, no matter how hard she tries to do the right thing. In this second book in a series, Keena cuts off one of her braids and later causes a congressman to fall down the stairs. The first-person journal format is a stretch—most second graders can barely write, let alone tell every detail of three days of her life. Children will wonder how Keena can cut one of her “two thick braids” all the way off by pretend-snipping in the air. They will be further confused because the cover art clearly shows Keena with a completely different hairdo on the field trip than the one described. Though a strong African-American heroine is most welcome in chapter books and Keena and her family are likable and realistic, this series needs more polish before Keena writes about her next month in school. (Fiction. 6-9)
Pub Date: July 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3264-3
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2009
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