This unabashed collection joins Sidman’s (Eureka!, not reviewed, etc.) verse with new-to-children’s-books Mindell’s photographs and essays from teens to celebrate the wonders of all things canine. Divided into thematic chapters under the headings “Awakening,” “Tag,” “Understanding,” and “Happiness,” the writings explore the relationship between dog and human and seek to plumb the depths of doggy psychology: “Watching you / greet strangers / is like watching a diver / spring off the board / humbly and with grace / trusting the blue air / and the depths / of love.” For the most part, the verse avoids the trap of mawkish sentiment, treating with humor such canine epiphanies as a roll in a skunk, and moving at times into inspiration, as with “Dog and Squirrel: Steps in a Flirtation,” and the comparison of human to dog “Noses”: “Mine / is an afterthought, / a molehill, / a period between two sentences of eyes. / Yours / is the main event: / a long, elegant, / labyrinthine / echo chamber of smell.” The teen offerings do not fair quite so well, often and unsurprisingly showing a beginner’s tendency to use stilted syntax and unnecessary three-dollar words. They nevertheless are clearly written from the heart (and are frequently accompanied by photos of their beloved subjects) and can serve to inspire teen readers to try their own hands. The professional photographs frequently display an annoying tendency toward artistic blurriness, but by and large suit the worshipful mood of the volume. As a whole, dog lovers will likely lap it up eagerly, budding writers will snuffle it with interest, and teens who combine the two tendencies might even roll ecstatically. (Poetry/essays. 12+)
Pub Date: March 24, 2003
ISBN: 0-618-17497-4
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2003
Bishop’s spectacular photographs of the tiny red-eyed tree frog defeat an incidental text from Cowley (Singing Down the Rain, 1997, etc.). The frog, only two inches long, is enormous in this title; it appears along with other nocturnal residents of the rain forests of Central America, including the iguana, ant, katydid, caterpillar, and moth. In a final section, Cowley explains how small the frog is and aspects of its life cycle. The main text, however, is an afterthought to dramatic events in the photos, e.g., “But the red-eyed tree frog has been asleep all day. It wakes up hungry. What will it eat? Here is an iguana. Frogs do not eat iguanas.” Accompanying an astonishing photograph of the tree frog leaping away from a boa snake are three lines (“The snake flicks its tongue. It tastes frog in the air. Look out, frog!”) that neither advance nor complement the action. The layout employs pale and deep green pages and typeface, and large jewel-like photographs in which green and red dominate. The combination of such visually sophisticated pages and simplistic captions make this a top-heavy, unsatisfying title. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-590-87175-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
Troubled teen meets totemic catalyst in Mikaelsen’s (Petey, 1998, etc.) earnest tribute to Native American spirituality. Fifteen-year-old Cole is cocky, embittered, and eaten up by anger at his abusive parents. After repeated skirmishes with the law, he finally faces jail time when he viciously beats a classmate. Cole’s parole officer offers him an alternative—Circle Justice, an innovative justice program based on Native traditions. Sentenced to a year on an uninhabited Arctic island under the supervision of Edwin, a Tlingit elder, Cole provokes an attack from a titanic white “Spirit Bear” while attempting escape. Although permanently crippled by the near-death experience, he is somehow allowed yet another stint on the island. Through Edwin’s patient tutoring, Cole gradually masters his rage, but realizes that he needs to help his former victims to complete his own healing. Mikaelsen paints a realistic portrait of an unlikable young punk, and if Cole’s turnaround is dramatic, it is also convincingly painful and slow. Alas, the rest of the characters are cardboard caricatures: the brutal, drunk father, the compassionate, perceptive parole officer, and the stoic and cryptic Native mentor. Much of the plot stretches credulity, from Cole’s survival to his repeated chances at rehabilitation to his victim being permitted to share his exile. Nonetheless, teens drawn by the brutality of Cole’s adventures, and piqued by Mikaelsen’s rather muscular mysticism, might absorb valuable lessons on anger management and personal responsibility. As melodramatic and well-meaning as the teens it targets. (Fiction. YA)
Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2001
ISBN: 0-380-97744-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
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