An engaging, touching, and heartbreaking adventure.
Inspired by a Civil War newspaper article, this middle-grade historical novel tells the story of a devoted dog who accompanies his owner to the battlefield.
It is December 1861, in Chicago, and Bärchen, a large black pointer, is enjoying the warmth of the fireplace when he becomes aware of tension in the family. Louis W. Pfeif has reenlisted in the Union Army, much to the chagrin of his wife, Elizabeth, and their 5-year-old daughter, Louisa. Elizabeth’s father and uncle have raised funds to form a new regiment, and Louis is given the rank of second lieutenant. But once Louis has bid his family farewell and departed the house, Bärchen leaps up and charges the door. He barks “furiously, hurling himself against it again and again.” He insists on joining Louis. And so the fiercely loyal canine heads off to war as a member of the 58th Regiment. His self-appointed mission is to protect his beloved Louis. Caruthers’ Civil War tale follows the 58th from its training in Illinois until April 1862, when it arrives in Tennessee and engages in the brutal Battle of Shiloh. Bärchen quickly endears himself to the young soldiers when he performs his showstopping mock salute: At Louis’ command, he rears up on his hind legs, raising his right paw to his eyebrow. He also gets himself into a variety of scrapes. Without anthropomorphizing the dog, the novel successfully develops Bärchen into a full-fledged central character who expresses himself, as canines do, through movements of his ears, an assortment of vocalizations, and deep sighs of contentment as he settles down beside Louis. The dog’s antics lighten the drama with humorous episodes, but there are also passages that are quite poignant. Caruthers has done her research and creates a vivid portrait of the confusion that reigned during the early months of the war—the faulty weaponry, changing orders, frequent troop desertions, and lack of food. When the 58th reaches Tennessee, skirmishes with the Confederates add violence to the story. But nothing will prepare young readers for the tragedy that befalls Bärchen in the Battle of Shiloh.
An engaging, touching, and heartbreaking adventure.Pub Date: July 7, 2022
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 166
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come.
Little Blue Truck and his pal Toad meet friends old and new on a springtime drive through the country.
This lift-the-flap, interactive entry in the popular Little Blue Truck series lacks the narrative strength and valuable life lessons of the original Little Blue Truck (2008) and its sequel, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way (2009). Both of those books, published for preschoolers rather than toddlers, featured rich storylines, dramatic, kinetic illustrations, and simple but valuable life lessons—the folly of taking oneself too seriously, the importance of friends, and the virtue of taking turns, for example. At about half the length and with half as much text as the aforementioned titles, this volume is a much quicker read. Less a story than a vernal celebration, the book depicts a bucolic drive through farmland and encounters with various animals and their young along the way. Beautifully rendered two-page tableaux teem with butterflies, blossoms, and vibrant pastel, springtime colors. Little Blue greets a sheep standing in the door of a barn: “Yoo-hoo, Sheep! / Beep-beep! / What’s new?” Folding back the durable, card-stock flap reveals the barn’s interior and an adorable set of twin lambs. Encounters with a duck and nine ducklings, a cow with a calf, a pig with 10 (!) piglets, a family of bunnies, and a chicken with a freshly hatched chick provide ample opportunity for counting and vocabulary work.
Uncomplicated fun that sets readers up for the earlier, more-complicated books to come. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-544-93809-0
Page Count: 16
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
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