A paean to the simple joys of girlfriends takes flight in this vividly phrased and illustrated picture book. On a summer Saturday, five girls in “the Project” get together to find a little fun. The girls start drawing paper dolls at Hattie Jean’s, who has a room of her own. ViLee wants to get out of the Project, afraid her mamma will make her take her baby brother along, so they end up walking, arms linked, to where they can climb trees. The narrator talks about some other activities, e.g., taking turns on Hattie Lee’s bike, or collecting bottles for the recycler to earn money for a movie, or running errands for the neighbors. They end up climbing their favorite magnolia, and taking a blossom to Lois, the friend who couldn’t get away, to put in her hair. Saint James’s signature paintings are made of broad flat planes of color in bold, geometric shapes. The girls are clearly distinguished by their hair and skin tones, the narrator by her short hair and tiny gold stud earring. The marvelous closeness of girlfriends saturates the straightforward storyline, with a dialect from the inner city and a universal theme of escape, from parents and small siblings, just for awhile. (Picture book. 3-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-230982-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1999
PLB 0-688-13166-2 King Midas And The Golden Touch ($16.00; PLB $15.63; Apr.; 32 pp.; 0-688-13165-4; PLB 0-688-13166-2): The familiar tale of King Midas gets the golden touch in the hands of Craft and Craft (Cupid and Psyche, 1996). The author takes her inspiration from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s retelling, capturing the essence of the tale with the use of pithy dialogue and colorful description. Enchanting in their own right, the illustrations summon the Middle Ages as a setting, and incorporate colors so lavish that when they are lost to the uniform gold spurred by King Midas’s touch, the point of the story is further burnished. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-688-13165-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
Lunge-Larsen and Preus debut with this story of a flower that blooms for the first time to commemorate the uncommon courage of a girl who saves her people from illness. The girl, an Ojibwe of the northern woodlands, knows she must journey to the next village to get the healing herb, mash-ki- ki, for her people, who have all fallen ill. After lining her moccasins with rabbit fur, she braves a raging snowstorm and crosses a dark frozen lake to reach the village. Then, rather than wait for morning, she sets out for home while the villagers sleep. When she loses her moccasins in the deep snow, her bare feet are cut by icy shards, and bleed with every step until she reaches her home. The next spring beautiful lady slippers bloom from the place where her moccasins were lost, and from every spot her injured feet touched. Drawing on Ojibwe sources, the authors of this fluid retelling have peppered the tale with native words and have used traditional elements, e.g., giving voice to the forces of nature. The accompanying watercolors, with flowing lines, jewel tones, and decorative motifs, give stately credence to the story’s iconic aspects. (Picture book/folklore. 4-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-90512-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1999
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