by John Paterson & Katherine Paterson & illustrated by Susan Jeffers ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2004
This charming tale is based on an incident that happened to the young John Paterson during the summer of 1942, when Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, her daughter, and two granddaughters spent the summer near Lee, Massachusetts. Young William, frustrated that he’s “too young to do anything to help win the war,” imagines himself as a knight fighting dragons. He longs to see the queen, and visualizes her in a crown and red ermine-trimmed robes. William decides that the delicious blueberries he picks on the family farm might comfort her. Escaping his jeering older brother, he delivers the berries, and even manages to see the queen, who is “disguised like a grandma, but anyone would know she was a real queen.” The gouache paintings with ink cross-hatching recall old-fashioned color-separated illustrations. They beautifully juxtapose the magnificent horses, fire-breathing dragon, and royal robes of William’s fairytale world with realistic images of cars, planes, and war work—images that will appeal to young readers. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: June 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-06-623942-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2004
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by John Paterson ; illustrated by John Paterson
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by Katherine Paterson & John Paterson & illustrated by John Rocco
by Marie Bradby & illustrated by Chris K. Soentpiet ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1995
An inspiring story of young boy's compelling desire to read. As a boy of nine, Booker works in a salt mine from the dark of early morning to the gloom of night, hungry for a meal, but even hungrier to learn to read. Readers follow him on his quest in Malden, Virginia, where he finds inspiration in a man ``brown as me'' reading a newspaper on a street corner. An alphabet book helps, but Booker can't make the connection to words. Seeking out ``that brown face of hope'' once again, Booker gains a sense of the sounds represented by letters, and these become his deliverance. Bradby's fine first book is tautly written, with a poetic, spiritual quality in every line. The beautifully executed, luminous illustrations capture the atmosphere of an African-American community post-slavery: the drudgery of days consumed by back- breaking labor, the texture of private lives conducted by lantern- light. There is no other context or historical note about Booker T. Washington's life, leaving readers to piece together his identity. Regardless, this is an immensely satisfying, accomplished work, resonating first with longing and then with joy. (Picture book. 5- 8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-531-09464-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1995
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by Marie Bradby
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by Marie Bradby & illustrated by Ted Rand
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by Marie Bradby & illustrated by Peter Catalanotto
by Patricia Polacco & illustrated by Patricia Polacco ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 15, 1994
A white youth from Ohio, Sheldon Russell Curtis (Say), and a black youth from Georgia, Pinkus Aylee (Pink), meet as young soldiers with the Union army. Pink finds Say wounded in the leg after a battle and brings him home with him. Pink's mother, Moe Moe Bay, cares for the boys while Say recuperates, feeding and comforting them and banishing the war for a time. Whereas Pink is eager to go back and fight against "the sickness" that is slavery, Say is afraid to return to his unit. But when he sees Moe Moe Bay die at the hands of marauders, he understands the need to return. Pink and Say are captured by Confederate soldiers and brought to the notorious Andersonville prison camp. Say is released months later, ill and undernourished, but Pink is never released, and Polacco reports that he was hanged that very first day because he was black. Polacco (Babushka Baba Yaga, 1993, etc; My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother, above) tells this story, which was passed down for generations in her family (Say was her great-great-grandfather), carefully and without melodrama so that it speaks for itself. The stunning illustrations — reminiscent of the German expressionist Egon Shiele in their use of color and form — are completely heartbreaking. A spectacular achievement. (Nonfiction/Picture book. 4- 8)
Pub Date: Sept. 15, 1994
ISBN: 0-399-22671-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1994
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by Patricia Polacco ; illustrated by Patricia Polacco
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by Patricia Polacco ; illustrated by Patricia Polacco
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by Patricia Polacco ; illustrated by Patricia Polacco
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