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THE NEAT LINE

Name: THE NEAT LINE
Author: Pamela Duncan Edwards
ISBN: 0-06-623970-2

SCRIBBLING THROUGH MOTHER GOOSE

by Pamela Duncan Edwards & illustrated by Diana Cain Bluthenthal ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2005

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An enterprising little line grows up from a scribble and (once it achieves “neat”ness) makes its way through a volume of nursery rhymes, solving the characters’ problems along the way. Thus, it draws a horn for Little Boy Blue to blow, a path for Jack and Jill to proceed safely down the hill, a cloud to rain on Contrary Mary’s garden, and a bird to scare away Miss Muffet’s spider. Blumenthal’s mixed-media illustrations are bright and appropriately simple, the Neat Line rendered as a line drawn with a cheery smile at the end. Edwards’s text is not without humor, but forces the conceit at times: While the path for Jack and Jill makes perfect sense, Mary’s flowers’ unhappiness is arbitrarily caused by Mary’s neglect, which does not arise naturally from the rhyme. The concept of a neat line in itself is in tune with young children’s attempts to master writing and drawing, but this one simply does not generate enough force of character to make a compelling protagonist. Cute, but lacking in the wit and vision of other recent works that deconstruct the notion of The Book. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: May 1, 2005

ISBN: 0-06-623970-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2005

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
FOUR SEASONS OF FUN
by Pamela Duncan Edwards ; illustrated by Sylvie Daigneault

- BOOK REVIEW
THE PRINCESS PIGTORIA AND THE PEA
by Pamela Duncan Edwards and illustrated by Henry Cole

- BOOK REVIEW
WHILE THE WORLD IS SLEEPING
by Pamela Duncan Edwards and illustrated by Daniel Kirk

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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)