One disastrous Christmas Eve, a year after the death of her parents, Emily sidesteps day care and surreptitiously follows Grandma Rose, a housecleaner, to Mrs. Bigley’s mansion, lured by her fascination with Delilah. This fabulous porcelain doll has luxuriated in Mrs. Bigley’s family for five generations, where, upon the catastrophic accidental death of her daughter, she has become the focus of Mrs. Bigley’s twisted, guilty fixation. It’s a potentially deadly journey Emily takes, as her subterfuge leaves her locked out in the cold before eventually reuniting with her grandmother. It’s just as critical a psychological quest for Mrs. Bigley, who must drop her psychotic attachment to the porcelain and lace, yet not as realistic as Emily’s. The two maneuver through their plot-driven scenarios, rushing toward a collision. The seriousness of Mrs. Bigley’s mental illness demands a more rigorous explanation of her cure than her decision to create a doll museum. Her growth and self-revelation, therefore, are as empty as the final pronouncement a year later that this holiday is “the happiest Christmas ever,” an unearned result of simplification and quick plotting. (Fiction. 8-9)
Pub Date: April 15, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-8234-2121-3
Page Count: 130
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
There is something profoundly elemental going on in Smalls’s book: the capturing of a moment of unmediated joy. It’s not melodramatic, but just a Saturday in which an African-American father and son immerse themselves in each other’s company when the woman of the house is away. Putting first things first, they tidy up the house, with an unheralded sense of purpose motivating their actions: “Then we clean, clean, clean the windows,/wipe, wipe, wash them right./My dad shines in the windows’ light.” When their work is done, they head for the park for some batting practice, then to the movies where the boy gets to choose between films. After a snack, they work their way homeward, racing each other, doing a dance step or two, then “Dad takes my hand and slows down./I understand, and we slow down./It’s a long, long walk./We have a quiet talk and smile.” Smalls treats the material without pretense, leaving it guileless and thus accessible to readers. Hays’s artwork is wistful and idyllic, just as this day is for one small boy. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-316-79899-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
PLB 0-517-70967-8 Me And My Family Tree (32 pp.; $13.00; PLB $14.99; May; 0-517-70966-X; PLB 0-517-70967-8): For children who are naturally curious about the people who care for them (most make inquiries into family relationships at an early age), Sweeney explains, with the assistance of a young narrator, the concept of a family tree. Photographs become understandable once the young girl learns the relationships among family members; she wonders what her own family tree will look like when she marries and has children. A larger message comes at the end of this story: not only does she have a family tree, but so does everyone in the world. Cable’s drawings clearly define the process of creating a family tree; she provides a blank tree so children can start on their own geneaology.(Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-517-70966-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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