A gleefully inventive tale that captures the provenance of one of history’s most famous poems.
The quintessential 17th-century Japanese poet Bashō composes his signature haiku despite demanding distractions.
While out for an evening walk, Bashō finds a “peaceful place…to think” along a pond’s mossy banks. Soon enough, he’s recognized as “the most famous poet in the land” by nearby inhabitants, each hoping for literary recognition. The golden carp rises to the surface to dance and flutter, demanding, “O, Bashō!…Look at me!” but the poet’s eyes continue to rest. The water lily, realizing “a flower lives only one season, unless he’s the subject of a poem,” unfurls his petals to entice the poet with his perfume, but Bashō’s nose doesn’t twitch. The mosquito, smelling blood, whines in Bashō’s ear, but the poet remains “deaf to droning pests.” Just as the frog decides he won’t allow the “flashing fish, lavish lily, megalomaniacal mosquito, [and] pensive poet” to ruin his midnight swim, Bashō reengages his senses to capture the moment: “Old pond— / Frog jumps in. / Splash!” Adderson’s succinct text is a clever reflection of Bashō and his precise verses. Tamaki presents her visceral illustrations in saturated swathes of blues and greens with pleasingly popping yellows and pinks. Multiple close-ups of uninterruptible Bashō brilliantly ensures that his wide-eyed, rainbow-energy-emitting final portrait is a humorous, affecting delight. Appended backmatter explains haiku, introduces Bashō, and encourages nature-inspired creativity.
A gleefully inventive tale that captures the provenance of one of history’s most famous poems. (Picture book. 5-10)Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781773068930
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
Expressive, handsome, and well-documented.
Robertson, widely known for his work in the legendary group The Band, crafts a legend-based tale about the unification of warring tribes into what would become known as the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy.
As a boy, Robertson, of Mohawk and Cayuga heritage, heard an elder tell this story, which may date from the 14th century. It places Hiawatha, a Mohawk, into fresh cultural context and corrects Longfellow. After his family is killed in a raid by the dreaded Onodaga chief, Tadodaho, Hiawatha retreats in bereft solitude. A man in a glowing white stone canoe approaches. Stuttering softly, he shares his message of peace and reconciliation with Hiawatha, asking him to help carry and amplify this message during visits to warring tribes. The pair travels in succession to the Mohawk, Cayuga, Seneca, Oneida, and Onondaga tribes. With difficulty, they overcome resistance, laying groundwork for what would become, by 1722, the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy. Hiawatha’s first-person narration reveals his own transformation, from grief-stricken vengeance to self-forgiveness, from hatred to joy. Shannon adopts a palette of deep browns, red-golds, and blue-grays, with hints of green. Figures are broad-backed, solemn, and heroically posed. Tadodaho, disfigured by evil, is depicted as a scaly wretch, snakes entwined in his hair. Hiawatha prepares a curative medicine for him; Shannon portrays his recovery and eventual transmogrification as an eagle.
Expressive, handsome, and well-documented. (historical note, acknowledgments, author’s note) (Picture book/folk tale. 5-10)Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4197-1220-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
Warp back in time for a prehistoric spinoff adventure with Geronimo Stilton’s ancestor, Geronimo Stiltonoot, in Old Mouse City.
Readers will find Geronimo Stiltonoot a familiar character, outfitted differently from descendant Stilton yet still running a newspaper and having wild adventures. In this introduction to prehistoric mouse life, someone has stolen the most powerful and important artifact housed by the Old Mouse City Mouseum: the Stone of Fire. It’s up to Stiltonoot and his fellow sleuth and friend, Hercule Poirat, to uncover not only the theft, but a dangerous plot that jeopardizes all of Old Mouse City. As stand-ins for the rest of the Stilton cast, Stiltonoot has in common with Stilton a cousin named Trap, a sister named Thea and a nephew named Benjamin. The slapstick comedy and design, busy with type changes and color, will be familiar for Stilton readers. The world is fictionalized for comedic effect, featuring funny uses for dinosaurs and cheeky references to how far back in time they are, with only the occasional sidebar that presents facts. The story takes a bit long to get started, spending a lot of time reiterating the worldbuilding information laid out before the first chapter. But once it does start, it is an adventure Stilton readers will enjoy. Geronimo Stiltonoot has the right combination of familiarity and newness to satisfy Stilton fans. (Fiction. 6-10)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-44774-4
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2012
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