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LITTLE LIL AND THE SWING-SINGING SAX

Name: LITTLE LIL AND THE SWING-SINGING SAX
Author: Libba Moore Gray
ISBN: 0-689-80681-7

by Libba Moore Gray & illustrated by Lisa Cohen ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1996

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Little Lil lives with her mother, Mama Big Lil, and her ``fat- cheeked, curly-haired, horn-blowing Uncle Sudi Man.'' They are poor, but they love each other, and they laugh more than they cry. They also have Uncle Sudi Man's low-moaning sax, which blows pleasure into people's lives. When Mama Big Lil gives Little Lil a ring with a blue stone—a family heirloom—life can't get much better. Instead, it gets bad: Mama Big Lil is sick, and Uncle Sudi Man pawns his sax for the medicine money. Little Lil, however, knows that no amount of medicine will return the sparkle to Mama Big Lil's eyes the way that ``swing-singing'' sax could, so she trades her ring at the pawn shop and brings music back into their lives. Gray (My Mama Had a Dancing Heart, 1995, etc.) sparks warmth that fairly radiates off the page, testifying to the healing powers of music and to the hidden power of love and generosity. She charges the narrative with a hip-hop beat: ``So on a snow-swirling day with neon lights far below us blink blink blinking like an upside-down, cold electric sky, Mama Big Lil and I danced on that flat, black rooftop.'' Newcomer Cohen's illustrations are bright, bold concoctions, as flat and stylized as poster art, full of visual energy as they snap and sizzle along with the story. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1996

ISBN: 0-689-80681-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1996

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
WHEN UNCLE TOOK THE FIDDLE
by Libba Moore Gray

- BOOK REVIEW
MY MAMA HAD A DANCING HEART
by Libba Moore Gray & illustrated by Raúl Colón

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A DOG NAMED SAM

by Janice Boland & illustrated by G. Brian Karas ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1996

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A book that will make young dog-owners smile in recognition and confirm dogless readers' worst suspicions about the mayhem caused by pets, even winsome ones. Sam, who bears passing resemblance to an affable golden retriever, is praised for fetching the family newspaper, and goes on to fetch every other newspaper on the block. In the next story, only the children love Sam's swimming; he is yelled at by lifeguards and fishermen alike when he splashes through every watering hole he can find. Finally, there is woe to the entire family when Sam is bored and lonely for one long night. Boland has an essential message, captured in both both story and illustrations of this Easy-to-Read: Kids and dogs belong together, especially when it's a fun-loving canine like Sam. An appealing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: April 1, 1996

ISBN: 0-8037-1530-7

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Dial Books

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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HOME

by Carson Ellis ; illustrated by Carson Ellis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 24, 2015

Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.

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Ellis, known for her illustrations for Colin Meloy’s Wildwood series, here riffs on the concept of “home.”

Shifting among homes mundane and speculative, contemporary and not, Ellis begins and ends with views of her own home and a peek into her studio. She highlights palaces and mansions, but she also takes readers to animal homes and a certain famously folkloric shoe (whose iconic Old Woman manages a passel of multiethnic kids absorbed in daring games). One spread showcases “some folks” who “live on the road”; a band unloads its tour bus in front of a theater marquee. Ellis’ compelling ink and gouache paintings, in a palette of blue-grays, sepia and brick red, depict scenes ranging from mythical, underwater Atlantis to a distant moonscape. Another spread, depicting a garden and large building under connected, transparent domes, invites readers to wonder: “Who in the world lives here? / And why?” (Earth is seen as a distant blue marble.) Some of Ellis’ chosen depictions, oddly juxtaposed and stripped of any historical or cultural context due to the stylized design and spare text, become stereotypical. “Some homes are boats. / Some homes are wigwams.” A sailing ship’s crew seems poised to land near a trio of men clad in breechcloths—otherwise unidentified and unremarked upon.

Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions. (Picture book. 4-8)