Part of the For Kids series, this will be particularly useful for parents and classroom teachers hoping to make the study of...
This introduction to the towering classical composer sets the story of his life and work in the context of the revolutionary events of early-19th-century Europe.
Born in 1770, young Beethoven showed musical promise early. At 17, he was supporting himself and his brothers through his music. Although he had wealthy patrons throughout his life, his ideas about the equality of man often led to friction. Like his political views, Beethoven's musical ideas were radical. His health was never good. By the time his ninth symphony was performed, he was totally deaf, communicating with others through conversation books. Bauer’s chronological narrative reveals a man who was personally difficult and often unkempt, stubborn and certain of his own talents. He was also exceedingly diligent, constantly working and reworking his musical ideas. The author’s own extensive musical experience contributes to the breadth of this title. Sidebars and historical prints add further information about musical forms and instruments, historical events and people mentioned. Sprinkled throughout are supplementary activities of varying difficulty. These range from instructions for crafts and games to making CD covers and liner notes, thinking like a critic and making music of your own.
Part of the For Kids series, this will be particularly useful for parents and classroom teachers hoping to make the study of great music more interesting. (discography, glossary, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 11-15)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-56976-711-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 23, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
The life of Manjiro Nakahama, also known as John Mung, makes an amazing story: shipwrecked as a young fisherman for months on a remote island, rescued by an American whaler, he became the first Japanese resident of the US. Then, after further adventures at sea and in the California gold fields, he returned to Japan where his first-hand knowledge of America and its people earned him a central role in the modernization of his country after its centuries of peaceful isolation had ended. Expanding a passage from her Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun (1985, Newbery Honor), Blumberg not only delivers an absorbing tale of severe hardships and startling accomplishments, but also takes side excursions to give readers vivid pictures of life in mid-19th-century Japan, aboard a whaler, and amidst the California Gold Rush. The illustrations, a generous mix of contemporary photos and prints with Manjiro’s own simple, expressive drawings interspersed, are at least as revealing. Seeing a photo of Commodore Perry side by side with a Japanese artist’s painted portrait, or strange renditions of a New England town and a steam train, based solely on Manjiro’s verbal descriptions, not only captures the unique flavor of Japanese art, but points up just how high were the self-imposed barriers that separated Japan from the rest of the world. Once again, Blumberg shows her ability to combine high adventure with vivid historical detail to open a window onto the past. (source note) (Biography. 10-13)
Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2001
ISBN: 0-688-17484-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Born in 1880 in a tiny backwater in Alabama, Helen Keller lived a life familiar to many from the play and movie The Miracle Worker, as well as countless biographies. There’s no denying the drama in the story of the deaf and blind child for whom the world of language became possible through a dedicated and fanatically stubborn teacher, Annie Sullivan. But Helen’s life after that is even more remarkable: she went to high school and then to Radcliffe; she was a radical political thinker and a member of the Wobblies; she supported herself by lecture tours and vaudeville excursions as well as through the kindness of many. Dash (The Longitude Prize, p. 1483) does a clear-sighted and absorbing job of examining Annie’s prickly personality and the tender family that she, Helen, and Annie’s husband John Macy formed. She touches on the family pressures that conspired to keep Helen from her own pursuit of love and marriage; she makes vivid not only Helen’s brilliant and vibrant intelligence and personality, but the support of many people who loved her, cared for her, and served her. She also does not shrink from the describing the social and class divisions that kept some from crediting Annie Sullivan and others intent on making Helen into a puppet and no more. Riveting reading for students in need of inspiration, or who’re overcoming disability or studying changing expectations for women. (Biography. 10-14)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-590-90715-8
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2000
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