bookshelf

MIZ FANNIE MAE'S FINE NEW EASTER HAT

Name: MIZ FANNIE MAE'S FINE NEW EASTER HAT
Author: Melissa Milich
ISBN: 0-316-57159-8

by Melissa Milich & illustrated by Yong Chen ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1997

bookshelf

A truth-is-stranger family story from Milich (Can't Scare Me!, 1995, etc.) and newcomer Chen. The daughter and father in a rural black family travel by horse-and-wagon 25 miles to the big city to buy the mother an ornate hat for Easter Sunday. At home, Mama deems it too expensive and puts it aside to return. When Daddy wears it on his milk route the next morning, he tells her the hat has been worn, and she must keep it—a fact that doesn't entirely displease her. She wears the hat to Easter service, where four bird's eggs on its brim hatch during the sermon. The babies' mother has apparently followed it from town to rear the babies, and the whole congregation is caught up in the miracle. At home, Mama places the hat in the branches of a tree. Although the jacket copy makes reference to the truth of the tale, readers will find it farfetched and long-winded. Chen's portraits are often graceful, occasionally awkward, focusing on people, leaving the landscape and interiors as little more than sketches. The faces almost uniformly wear smiles, rendering the book one-dimensional with its glowing good will. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: April 1, 1997

ISBN: 0-316-57159-8

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1997

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
CAN'T SCARE ME!
by Melissa Milich & illustrated by Tyrone Geter

bookshelf

A DOG NAMED SAM

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

bookshelf

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

bookshelf

HOME

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

Visually accomplished but marred by stereotypical cultural depictions.

bookshelf

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)