A seemingly outrageous fantasy comes at least partly true for imaginative Emma when she’s able to purchase an actual Viking ship. A school project requires students to do reports on famous explorers; Emma’s is Erik the Red. She throws herself into the task, taking on his persona and donning Viking-esque garb as she researches his life and the culture of the Vikings with the help of her friendly librarian, Mr. Sigurd, who may have a little Viking blood in him himself. After giving her report, Mr. Sigurd shows Emma an advertisement for a Viking ship for sale for $7,000. After cobbling together $128, Emma writes to the sellers, begging them to consider selling her the ship rather than junking it; and remarkably, they agree. Children may not find a story about an imaginative girl on a quest for a used Viking ship particularly compelling or realistic, but the collage-style illustrations add a great deal of appeal and interest. They feature a trove of finds for observant readers, such as real books by the author on Mr. Sigurd’s shelves and books by other favorite authors in the library and in Emma’s room, Emma’s T-shirt reading “Leif Landed First,” a T-shirt on a gossipy schoolmate featuring a cat and the word “Ouch,” and snippets of maps and reference entries to Scandinavian lands used as clothing patterns. An author’s note includes facts about Vikings, a bit about the background of the story (the authors’ daughters really did procure a Viking ship from a Leif Ericsson organization), and a list of sources for further reading. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: June 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-525-46889-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2002
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
Innocuous adventuring on the smallest of scales.
The Mouse and the Motorcycle (1965) upgrades to The Mice and the Rolls-Royce.
In Windsor Castle there sits a “dollhouse like no other,” replete with working plumbing, electricity, and even a full library of real, tiny books. Called Queen Mary’s Dollhouse, it also plays host to the Whiskers family, a clan of mice that has maintained the house for generations. Henry Whiskers and his cousin Jeremy get up to the usual high jinks young mice get up to, but when Henry’s little sister Isabel goes missing at the same time that the humans decide to clean the house up, the usually bookish big brother goes on the adventure of his life. Now Henry is driving cars, avoiding cats, escaping rats, and all before the upcoming mouse Masquerade. Like an extended version of Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Two Bad Mice (1904), Priebe keeps this short chapter book constantly moving, with Duncan’s peppy art a cute capper. Oddly, the dollhouse itself plays only the smallest of roles in this story, and no factual information on the real Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House is included at the tale’s end (an opportunity lost).
Innocuous adventuring on the smallest of scales. (Fantasy. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6575-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
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