Extremely well-researched and presented, this sumptuous book presents the extraordinary career of Schumann, who was more celebrated during her lifetime than her composer husband, Robert, was. Born in 1819 to a tyrannical father who used her talent to promote his own reputation as a music teacher, Clara was a musical prodigy who captivated Europe from the time she was nine years old until her death. Throughout her life she defied the 19th-century conventions that routinely subdued women. While the author sets forth Clara’s vibrant career thoroughly, the central strength of her book comes from her portrayal of Clara’s tumultuous domestic life. First, she and Robert rebelled against Clara’s father, eventually going to court for permission to marry. Later, Robert’s struggles with depression and mental illness intensified the tension under which the devoted couple lived. Yet, this mother of eight children continued to perform, compose music, and teach, helping to lay the foundations for much of today’s classical music world. The book is heavily illustrated with drawings, playbills, and photographs from Clara’s life. Anyone interested in music history or in women’s history will find a compelling story well told here. (index, not seen, b&w reproductions and photos, chronology, source notes) (Biography. 10-16)
Pub Date: April 19, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-89199-1
Page Count: 111
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 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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