The gifted author of Trail of Stones (1990), a series of searching psychological portraits in verse of familiar folkloric characters, portrays a painfully shy boy. Eric's only friend is the ``Night Shimmy,'' an imaginary alter ego who wears a black mask and witch's hat, also seen at times on Eric himself. One day Eric plays with Marcia, who doesn't mind his silence. After they enjoy flying Marcia's parrot kite, Eric has a night of unusually peaceful dreams, but awakes to find that the Night Shimmy has abandoned him. At first angry with Marcia, he relents when her kite gets caught in a tree; after he frees it, they begin to talk. From the black title spread with four takes of a door opening to a sky where dawn and then day supplant the stars, Browne brings his usual allusive power to the illustrations. The boy's solitary withdrawal and hesitant response to Marcia's proffered friendship are masterfully conveyed by skillful manipulation of relative sizes and distances and of the intensity and range of color, by surreal changes in details, by the use of dramatic shadows, and even by cropping—as well as by the black ground that squeezes the first illustration into a 4-inch square, then waxes and wanes and ultimately disappears when Eric begins to share his imaginative thoughts with his new friend. A subtle and perceptive treatment of a familiar theme, with an unusually harmonious melding of text and art. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-679-82384-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.
Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”
Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.
Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6529-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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