Bridget thinks she gets her artistic abilities from the black beret she, along with all the Great Artists, always wears. So when she loses it, her career is over. Days later, her sister asks the stymied Bridget if she’ll paint a sign for a lemonade stand. Can she do it sans beret? Each cartoonish spread—rendered in cheerful watercolors, colored pencil and ink—is riddled with wry references to the art world. Bridget’s artwork on display in the kitchen, for example, is captioned: “She created many masterpieces. Some went on permanent exhibit.” Next to her sidewalk-chalk drawing: “Others were only available for limited viewing.” In comic-strip–style panels, Bridget is shown trying on alternative hats to hilarious effect—Mom’s oversized gardening hat is met with “Draw?! I can’t even SEE!” To the coonskin cap, she simply says “Gross.” A witty, well-shaped story about the dubious necessity of lucky hats and a clever homage to many of the Great Artists and their works, from Leonardo to Warhol. (“How to Start Your Art” idea section) (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: April 27, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-8050-8775-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Dec. 30, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2010
One of the watershed moments in African-American history—the defeat of James Braddock at the hands of Joe Louis—is here given an earnest picture-book treatment. Despite his lack of athletic ability, Sammy wants desperately to be a great boxer, like his hero, getting boxing lessons from his friend Ernie in exchange for help with schoolwork. However hard he tries, though, Sammy just can’t box, and his father comforts him, reminding him that he doesn’t need to box: Joe Louis has shown him that he “can be the champion at anything [he] want[s].” The high point of this offering is the big fight itself, everyone crowded around the radio in Mister Jake’s general store, the imagined fight scenes played out in soft-edged sepia frames. The main story, however, is so bent on providing Sammy and the reader with object lessons that all subtlety is lost, as Mister Jake, Sammy’s father, and even Ernie hammer home the message. Both text and oil-on-canvas-paper illustrations go for the obvious angle, making the effort as a whole worthy, but just a little too heavy-handed. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: May 1, 2004
ISBN: 1-58430-161-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2004
Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 23, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-00361-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
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