Murphy continues to amuse with math—quite a trick considering the amount of anxiety the subject manages to generate. Here he tackles the concept of comparative value by working it into a story of trading cards. Mike and his brother Andy are dinosaur trading card enthusiasts. It’s Andy’s birthday and as a special treat he is getting to accompany older brother Mike to a trading fair for the first time. Mike is in hot pursuit of a Tyrannosaurus rex card, but he has to wheel and deal to get the cards the owner of the T. rex wants in trade. As the story progresses, small boxed items on the page allow readers to see the action in terms of equations—two Pterosaur cards equals one Stegosaurus card, four of which equal one Tyrannosaurus card—and also learn a few facts about the dinosaurs. And sweetly, at the end of all the furious trading Mike gives Andy the card for his birthday present. O’Malley’s color-shocked artwork is a real plus to Murphy’s story, which easily takes the mystifying sting out of comparatives. A guide is included to help kids get the most out of the book, and a few games are suggested to enjoyably extend the math lesson. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-06-028926-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2001
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
Nolen and Nelson offer a smaller, but no less gifted counterpart to Big Jabe (2000) in this new tall tale. Shortly after being born one stormy night, Rose thanks her parents, picks a name, and gathers lightning into a ball—all of which is only a harbinger of feats to come. Decked out in full cowboy gear and oozing self-confidence from every pore, Rose cuts a diminutive, but heroic figure in Nelson’s big, broad Western scenes. Though she carries a twisted iron rod as dark as her skin and ropes clouds with fencing wire, Rose overcomes her greatest challenge—a pair of rampaging twisters—not with strength, but with a lullaby her parents sang. After turning tornadoes into much-needed rain clouds, Rose rides away, “that mighty, mighty song pressing on the bull’s-eye that was set at the center of her heart.” Throughout, she shows a reflective bent that gives her more dimension than most tall-tale heroes: a doff of the Stetson to her and her creators. (author’s note) (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-15-216472-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Silver Whistle/Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2003
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