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THE SECOND MRS. GIOCONDA

Around a few entries in Leonardo's notebooks Konigsburg constructs the character of his young apprentice Salai and fabricates an answer to two questions. She begins, "Why, people ask, why did Leonardo da Vinci choose to paint the portrait of the second wife of an unimportant Florentine merchant? . . . Why, they ask, why?" But it's the second question, which surely fewer "people ask," that gets a fuller answer here: "Why, people ask, why did Leonardo da Vinci put up with this liar, this thief, this Salai? Why for so long?. . . Why?" In the words of Beatrice, the plain but inwardly beautiful young duchess who shares the boy's sense of fun and mischief, Salai represents the one wild element—irreverent, unserious—that the too self-conscious Leonardo needs for greatness. And when, at the very end, Mr. Giaconda brings his wife to the absent artist's studio, Salai recognizes her as that same "unimportant, importantly unserious wild thing" whose portrait would not only recall the now dead Beatrice but would also be the perfect insult to Beatrice's shallow, arrogant sister Isabella who was begging to be painted herself. The Mona Lisa then is, at least in part, Salai's revenge on a silly snob; the master himself is remote throughout the story though through his assistant's eyes we are shown a number of his projects. We also see him on occasion throw back his head and laugh at Salai's dismissal of men of learning and station—though the boy's "those guys. . ." and (of the duke) "who does he think he is" seem fresh and spunky only in contrast with the complacently polished speech employed by everyone else including the author. At this civilized midcult level Konigsburg is successful, mixing palatable art history with mildly ingenious conjecture, and she probably should not be faulted for not having a Salai of her own.

Pub Date: Sept. 10, 1975

ISBN: 1416903429

Page Count: 164

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1975

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TALES FOR VERY PICKY EATERS

Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)

Pub Date: May 1, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Clarion Books

Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011

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I WISH YOU MORE

Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.

A collection of parental wishes for a child.

It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.

Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: April 1, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015

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