An eclectic collection of poems about war and peace; some by well-known poets and others by children, many of whom have had firsthand experiences of war. The book opens with the now-familiar words of Chief Joseph of the Nez PercÇ Tribe: ``Hear me, my warriors: my heart is sick and sad./From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever!'' War has stolen the childhood of 16-year-old Fionnuala Bogues of Belfast, Ireland: ``What about my wasted childhood,/Can you bring it back again?'' A Korean child recalls ``the friend I met while running from the war,'' who in memory has become dearer than any other. One of the most moving selections is by an unknown child from a concentration camp—``what I want to sing about,/That the world is full of loveliness.'' Selections by Langston Hughes (``And life for me ain't been no crystal stair'') and Lucille Clifton (`` `Walk tall in the world,' says Mama to Everett Anderson'') are connected to the main theme mostly by the ghostly, digitally manipulated photograph of a happy Asian mother and son next to a fortress-like wall. Throughout this poignant anthology, the emotional impact of the poetry is extended by newcomer Lill's art. (Picture book/poetry. 5-7)
Pub Date: March 17, 1997
ISBN: 0-399-22024-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
Emergent readers will like the humor in little Pip’s pointed requests, and more engaging adventures for Otto and Pip will be...
In his third beginning reader about Otto the robot, Milgrim (See Otto, 2002, etc.) introduces another new friend for Otto, a little mouse named Pip.
The simple plot involves a large balloon that Otto kindly shares with Pip after the mouse has a rather funny pointing attack. (Pip seems to be in that I-point-and-I-want-it phase common with one-year-olds.) The big purple balloon is large enough to carry Pip up and away over the clouds, until Pip runs into Zee the bee. (“Oops, there goes Pip.”) Otto flies a plane up to rescue Pip (“Hurry, Otto, Hurry”), but they crash (and splash) in front of some hippos with another big balloon, and the story ends as it begins, with a droll “See Pip point.” Milgrim again succeeds in the difficult challenge of creating a real, funny story with just a few simple words. His illustrations utilize lots of motion and basic geometric shapes with heavy black outlines, all against pastel backgrounds with text set in an extra-large typeface.
Emergent readers will like the humor in little Pip’s pointed requests, and more engaging adventures for Otto and Pip will be welcome additions to the limited selection of funny stories for children just beginning to read. (Easy reader. 5-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-689-85116-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2003
Floyd and Denise update “The Tortoise and the Hare” for primary readers, captioning each soft-focus, semi-rural scene with a short, simple sentence or two. Rabbit proposes running to school, while his friend Turtle takes the bus: no contest at first, as the bus makes stop after deliberate stop, but because Rabbit pauses at a pushcart for a snack, a fresh-looking Turtle greets his panting, disheveled friend on the school steps. There is no explicit moral, but children will get the point—and go on to enjoy Margery Cuyler’s longer and wilder Road Signs: A Harey Race with a Tortoise (p. 957). (Easy reader. 5-7)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-15-202679-7
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2000
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