RUNNING THE ROAD TO ABC

Name: RUNNING THE ROAD TO ABC
Author: Denizé Lauture
ISBN: 0-689-80507-1

by Denizé Lauture & illustrated by Reynold Ruffins ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1996

A poetic text charts the experiences of six children as they run through the Haitian countryside (``six days each week, forty weeks each year, for seven years of their short lives'') on their way to and from school. Lauture (Father and Son, 1993, etc.) pens a lyric evocation of childhood—or even national—struggle lightened by innocence and leavened by the beauty of the natural world, but it retains a strongly adult sensibility: ``On the roads of white turf and roads of red clay they run. On roads of rocks and roads of mud they run. If they take a wrong step they do not complain.'' The writing often soars (the children ``gaze at the heavens, rise before the sun, sail with the moon, and dream of stars to read and write') but many young readers may not sit still for it. Ruffins's bright gouache paintings are appealing; they summon the vitality of Haitian primitive art and are similarly detailed, image-rich and jewel-toned. A book that's worthy, but wanting. (Picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: April 1, 1996

ISBN: 0-689-80507-1

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996

Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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THE DOG THAT DUG FOR DINOSAURS

by Shirley Redmond & illustrated by Simon Sullivan ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2004

This easy reader for children reading at the fluency level recounts the story of a girl named Mary Ann Anning and her dog, Tray. They lived on the coast of England in the early 1800s, although the time frame is given only as “a long, long time ago.” Mary Ann and Tray became famous for their discoveries of fossils, including dinosaur bones. They discovered the first pterodactyl found in England, and the name was assigned to their fossil. The story focuses a little too much on the dog, and the title misses a great opportunity to completely acknowledge a girl accomplishing something important in the scientific world, especially in a much earlier era and without formal training or education. Despite this drawback, both Mary Ann and Tray are appealing characters and the discovery of the fossils and subsequent notice from scientists, collectors, and even royalty is appealing and well written. Sullivan’s illustrations provide intriguing period details in costumes, tools, and buildings, as well as a clever front endpaper of fossil-strewn ground covered with muddy paw prints. (Easy reader. 6-8)

Pub Date: July 1, 2004

ISBN: 0-689-85708-X

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Aladdin

Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2004

Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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Energetic enough to carry younger rocketeers off the launch pad if not into a very high orbit.

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PROFESSOR ASTRO CAT'S SPACE ROCKETS

From the Professor Astro Cat series

by Dominic Walliman ; illustrated by Ben Newman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 4, 2018

The bubble-helmeted feline explains what rockets do and the role they have played in sending people (and animals) into space.

Addressing a somewhat younger audience than in previous outings (Professor Astro Cat’s Frontiers of Space, 2013, etc.), Astro Cat dispenses with all but a light shower of “factoroids” to describe how rockets work. A highly selective “History of Space Travel” follows—beginning with a crew of fruit flies sent aloft in 1947, later the dog Laika (her dismal fate left unmentioned), and the human Yuri Gagarin. Then it’s on to Apollo 11 in 1969; the space shuttles Discovery, Columbia, and Challenger (the fates of the latter two likewise elided); the promise of NASA’s next-gen Orion and the Space Launch System; and finally vague closing references to other rockets in the works for local tourism and, eventually, interstellar travel. In the illustrations the spacesuited professor, joined by a mouse and cat in similar dress, do little except float in space and point at things. Still, the art has a stylish retro look, and portraits of Sally Ride and Guion Bluford diversify an otherwise all-white, all-male astronaut corps posing heroically or riding blocky, geometric spacecraft across starry reaches.

Energetic enough to carry younger rocketeers off the launch pad if not into a very high orbit. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 6-8)