In another inside-outside book, Munro tackles the big state of Texas in a giant-sized format and vividly colorful style. While similar in many ways to previous titles in her series, the palette here is particularly bold and vibrant. The routine and expected sites such as the Alamo and Dallas skyline are paired with less-well-known sites like Palo Duro Canyon, the Antique Sewing Machine Museum, and the Devil's Rope Museum—devoted to barb wire. Sometimes the choices of illustration are puzzling as a spread, including a busy harbor, labeled "shrimp in Port Isabel," which only shows tiny pink sploshes of color in a cooler. Another labeled "Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston" appears to be the view from inside a space helmet, until the page is turned to reveal it's really outside the neutral buoyancy lab where folks are inside, floating in liquid. A map and informative five pages of text follow colorful illustrations with these minimal labels. Piquing children's interest before dosing them with fascinating facts and trivia makes this a lively read that bears study. Not adequate for reports, it does work as an enticement for tourists. True Texans may quibble at what is not included, but given a state with the fourth and ninth largest cities in the United States along with vast rural areas, it probably isn't possible to cover everything. (Nonfiction. 4-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 1-58717-050-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: SeaStar/North-South
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2001
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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A young boy sees things a little differently than others.
Noah can see patterns in the dust when it sparkles in the sunlight. And if he puts his nose to the ground, he can smell the “green tang of the ants in the grass.” His most favorite thing of all, however, is to read. Noah has endless curiosity about how and why things work. Books open the door to those answers. But there is one question the books do not explain. When the wind comes whistling by, where does it go? Noah decides to find out. In a chase that has a slight element of danger—wind, after all, is unpredictable—Noah runs down streets, across bridges, near a highway, until the wind lifts him off his feet. Cowman’s gusty wisps show each stream of air turning a different jewel tone, swirling all around. The ribbons gently bring Noah home, setting him down under the same thinking tree where he began. Did it really happen? Worthington’s sensitive exploration leaves readers with their own set of questions and perhaps gratitude for all types of perspective. An author’s note mentions children on the autism spectrum but widens to include all who feel a little different.
An invitation to wonder, imagine and look at everything (humans included) in a new way. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-60554-356-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Redleaf Lane
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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Little Lobo and his dog, Bernabé, journey through a Mexican mercado delivering diverse goods to a variety of booths.
With the aid of red words splattered throughout the spreads as labels, Raúl the Third gives an introduction to Spanish vocabulary as Little Lobo, an anthropomorphic wolf, leaves his house, fills his cart with objects from his warehouse, and delivers them to the market’s vendors. The journey also serves as a crash course in Mexican culture, as the images are packed with intertextual details such as food, traditional games, and characters, including Cantinflas, Frida Khalo, and Juan Gabriel. Readers acquainted with Raúl the Third’s characters from his Lowriders series with author Cathy Camper will appreciate cameos from familiar characters. As he makes his rounds, Little Lobo also collects different artifacts that people offer in exchange for his deliveries of shoe polish, clothespins, wood, tissue paper, paintbrushes, and a pair of golden laces. Although Raúl the Third departs from the ball-pen illustrations that he is known for, his depiction of creatures and critters peppering the borderland where his stories are set remains in his trademark style. The softer hues in the illustrations (chosen by colorist Bay) keep the busy compositions friendly, and the halftone patterns filling the illustrations create foregrounds and backgrounds reminiscent of Roy Lichtenstein’s pointillism.
A culturally intricate slice of a lupine courier’s life. (glossary) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-328-55726-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Versify/HMH
Review Posted Online: Jan. 15, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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