Aunt Lou loves an auction “better than anything,” so when auction day comes, the entire family ventures forth to see what treasures might lurk among the kerosene lamps, toasters, stuffed groundhogs and plastic flowers. Aunt Lou’s niece, the narrator, spots a gem right away—a straw hat just like her daddy’s: “I tried it on, and it fit me / better than my own hair.” She just hopes her overzealous aunt and her aunt’s longtime bidding rival Miss Logsdon don’t get their hands on it first. This is a fun, folksy introduction to the psychology, rules and singsong rhythms of an auction, complete with down-home feel (the author’s from Kentucky) and happy ending, as the gleeful hat-wearing girl at the end will testify. Auctioneer Bubba Philpott’s rapid-fire chant (“Do I hear three dollah three dollah / three dollah three dollah / who’ll go three?”) appears in swooping bold sans-serif type for added effect, and Smith’s comical watercolor-and-ink illustrations are as lively and friendly as the story. “Whee-oo!” as Aunt Lou would say. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-7636-1242-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2005
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Trickling, bubbling, swirling, rushing, a river flows down from its mountain beginnings, past peaceful country and bustling city on its way to the sea. Hooper (The Drop in My Drink, 1998, etc.) artfully evokes the water’s changing character as it transforms from “milky-cold / rattling-bold” to a wide, slow “sliding past mudflats / looping through marshes” to the end of its journey. Willey, best known for illustrating Geraldine McCaughrean’s spectacular folk-tale collections, contributes finely detailed scenes crafted in shimmering, intricate blues and greens, capturing mountain’s chill, the bucolic serenity of passing pastures, and a sense of mystery in the water’s shadowy depths. Though Hooper refers to “the cans and cartons / and bits of old wood” being swept along, there’s no direct conservation agenda here (for that, see Debby Atwell’s River, 1999), just appreciation for the river’s beauty and being. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: June 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0792-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000
Nolen and Nelson offer a smaller, but no less gifted counterpart to Big Jabe (2000) in this new tall tale. Shortly after being born one stormy night, Rose thanks her parents, picks a name, and gathers lightning into a ball—all of which is only a harbinger of feats to come. Decked out in full cowboy gear and oozing self-confidence from every pore, Rose cuts a diminutive, but heroic figure in Nelson’s big, broad Western scenes. Though she carries a twisted iron rod as dark as her skin and ropes clouds with fencing wire, Rose overcomes her greatest challenge—a pair of rampaging twisters—not with strength, but with a lullaby her parents sang. After turning tornadoes into much-needed rain clouds, Rose rides away, “that mighty, mighty song pressing on the bull’s-eye that was set at the center of her heart.” Throughout, she shows a reflective bent that gives her more dimension than most tall-tale heroes: a doff of the Stetson to her and her creators. (author’s note) (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-15-216472-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Silver Whistle/Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2003
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