A “pure-dee” delight for storytime. (Picture book. 4-8)
A tall-tale version of the invention of blue jeans by a New York peddler who came late to the California gold rush but saw a need and filled it.
Johnston's fanciful embroidery of the scraps of actual facts known about the origins of Levis begins with the report that at the discovery of gold, miners “rushed so fast, they lost their pants.” By the second spread, with miners working in their long johns or, discreetly, “in the vanilla,” listeners will be thoroughly hooked. The humor is broad and the language inventive, yet reminiscent of the times. Panning bits of clothing rather than gold sets the miners to “gnashing their clashers.” “Dang!” says Levi Strauss. Later, everyone has been outfitted with a new set of tent-fabric pants but refuses to take them off to wash them: “The whole of California stank….” Strauss obligingly sells them all a second pair. This humorous text is set on double-page illustrations painted with acrylic on old blue jeans whose texture shows through. Seams become part of the picture, the base of a covered wagon or, later, the Golden Gate Bridge. Strauss and his brothers are easily distinguishable from the full-bearded miners. An author's note provides some actual facts to distinguish them from the “pure-dee fabrication.”
A “pure-dee” delight for storytime. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-15-206145-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: July 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2011
Innocuous adventuring on the smallest of scales.
The Mouse and the Motorcycle (1965) upgrades to The Mice and the Rolls-Royce.
In Windsor Castle there sits a “dollhouse like no other,” replete with working plumbing, electricity, and even a full library of real, tiny books. Called Queen Mary’s Dollhouse, it also plays host to the Whiskers family, a clan of mice that has maintained the house for generations. Henry Whiskers and his cousin Jeremy get up to the usual high jinks young mice get up to, but when Henry’s little sister Isabel goes missing at the same time that the humans decide to clean the house up, the usually bookish big brother goes on the adventure of his life. Now Henry is driving cars, avoiding cats, escaping rats, and all before the upcoming mouse Masquerade. Like an extended version of Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Two Bad Mice (1904), Priebe keeps this short chapter book constantly moving, with Duncan’s peppy art a cute capper. Oddly, the dollhouse itself plays only the smallest of roles in this story, and no factual information on the real Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House is included at the tale’s end (an opportunity lost).
Innocuous adventuring on the smallest of scales. (Fantasy. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6575-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
A life devoted to freedom and dignity, worthy of praise and remembrance.
With the words of Massachusetts colonial rebels ringing in her ears, a slave determines to win her freedom.
In 1780, Mumbet heard the words of the new Massachusetts constitution, including its declaration of freedom and equality. With the help of a young lawyer, she went to court and the following year, won her freedom, becoming Elizabeth Freeman. Slavery was declared illegal and subsequently outlawed in the state. Woelfle writes with fervor as she describes Mumbet’s life in the household of John Ashley, a rich landowner and businessman who hosted protest meetings against British taxation. His wife was abrasive and abusive, striking out with a coal shovel at a young girl, possibly Mumbet’s daughter. Mumbet deflected the blow and regarded the wound as “her badge of bravery.” Ironically, the lawyer who took her case, Theodore Sedgwick, had attended John Ashley’s meetings. Delinois’ full-bleed paintings are heroic in scale, richly textured and vibrant. Typography becomes part of the page design as the font increases when the text mentions freedom. Another slave in the Ashley household was named in the court case, but Woelfle, keeping her young audience in mind, keeps it simple, wisely focusing on Mumbet.
A life devoted to freedom and dignity, worthy of praise and remembrance. (author’s note, selected bibliography, further reading) (Picture book/biography. 5-8)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7613-6589-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Review Posted Online: Oct. 8, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2013
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