Delphine is a child/earth-mother/superhero who lives atop a precipitous hill. A diminutive postman brings her a letter—Gram has sent a present, now at the post office. Accompanied by her two awe-inspiring beasts (wolf and lioness) plus her little guinea pig, Delphine makes her perilous way down the winding trail via baby carriage and a vine rope over a chasm, using her parasol to fend off lightning. The parcel is a bicycle. Though she is (preposterously, considering her recent exploits) scared about learning to ride it, she soon masters it well enough to get back up her mountain and write a thank you note to Gram. This is an extraordinarily imaginative book, full of exquisite visual detail from the gifted artist of The Grey Lady and the Strawberry Snatcher and The Paper Crane, and will probably provoke at least as much discussion as those earlier books. Delphine and her companions, as well as such carefully selected details as the delphiniums and sunflowers on her mountain, are of a heroic size that is at first disconcerting; but on rereading—and pondering the splendid, bright illustrations—they seem a glorious dramatization of the trepidation and triumph inherent in mastering any difficult task.
Pub Date: Aug. 22, 1988
ISBN: 0688056369
Page Count: -
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1988
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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