``When the sky was young and the world just a dream . . . a spider named Nobb came floating through the air'' looking for a safe haven for her ripening egg. Turned away by the moon, the sun, and a cloud, she stretches a web across the sky and catches them, biting off a little piece of each and wrapping it in sticky thread. Then clever Nobb creates ``the Earth with the Fire inside it,'' by wrapping the piece of moon round and round the piece of sun. She lays her egg between two mountains and out come not only spiderlings, but all the beings that ``fill the world to this day.'' MacDonald (Let's Make a Noise, 1992, etc.) offers an original and well-paced creation myth, simply and beautifully illustrated with Karas's unusually bold spreads in acrylic and gouache, featuring wide expanses of sky, silvery gray around the moon, a rich deep red near the sun, and cool watery green around the cloud- -all webbed over with the fine white lines of Nobb's sticky thread. Most of the pictures are serenely simple, which makes the teeming life bursting from the egg all the more magnificent. A generous work, in which text and artwork are fully bound to one another. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-531-09505-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1996
A book that will make young dog-owners smile in recognition and confirm dogless readers' worst suspicions about the mayhem caused by pets, even winsome ones. Sam, who bears passing resemblance to an affable golden retriever, is praised for fetching the family newspaper, and goes on to fetch every other newspaper on the block. In the next story, only the children love Sam's swimming; he is yelled at by lifeguards and fishermen alike when he splashes through every watering hole he can find. Finally, there is woe to the entire family when Sam is bored and lonely for one long night. Boland has an essential message, captured in both both story and illustrations of this Easy-to-Read: Kids and dogs belong together, especially when it's a fun-loving canine like Sam. An appealing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-8037-1530-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996
Sloat collaborates with Huffman, a Yu’pik storyteller, to infuse a traditional “origins” tale with the joy of creating. Hearing the old women of her village grumble that they have only tasteless crowberries for the fall feast’s akutaq—described as “Eskimo ice cream,” though the recipe at the end includes mixing in shredded fish and lard—young Anana carefully fashions three dolls, then sings and dances them to life. Away they bound, to cover the hills with cranberries, blueberries, and salmonberries. Sloat dresses her smiling figures in mixes of furs and brightly patterned garb, and sends them tumbling exuberantly through grassy tundra scenes as wildlife large and small gathers to look on. Despite obtrusively inserted pronunciations for Yu’pik words in the text, young readers will be captivated by the action, and by Anana’s infectious delight. (Picture book/folktale. 6-8)
Pub Date: June 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-88240-575-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2004
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