Demarest follows up Firefighters A-Z (2000) with this compelling offering on counting. As in Firefighters, Demarest broadens the scope of the traditional concept book by packing the pages with information. In this case, it’s about an elite team of firefighters who parachute into remote locations to battle forest fires. It opens with a bang: “One lightning bolt, in a flash strikes a tree . . . Two pilots radio in what they see.” Demarest’s dramatic pastel illustrations show the tree ablaze as it’s struck by lightning; on the opposite page, a colorful vignette depicts the pilots from the rear as they spot the plumes of smoke outside ahead. By numbering each stage of the response, Demarest heightens the tension until, finally, the smokejumpers leap from the plane (“Ten seconds later . . . the slap, which means “GO!”) At this point, the countdown reverses as three double-page spreads show the ensuing action. In the first, the smokejumper appears in full gear as her parachute skims the surface of the trees and smoke and fire erupt in the background. Later, the smokejumpers clear the area, saw down a tree, and an airplane blankets the area with “three drops of slurry [to] help slow the fire’s spread.” Black-and-white labeled drawings of a “smokejumper outfit” and “Wildland Firefighter Outfit” appear in the opening and closing; an author’s note relates the history of the field and provides further information about terms introduced in the text. References, suggested reading, and the National Smokejumper Association Web site are also included. (Picture book/nonfiction. 5-8)
Pub Date: June 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-689-84120-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2002
One of the watershed moments in African-American history—the defeat of James Braddock at the hands of Joe Louis—is here given an earnest picture-book treatment. Despite his lack of athletic ability, Sammy wants desperately to be a great boxer, like his hero, getting boxing lessons from his friend Ernie in exchange for help with schoolwork. However hard he tries, though, Sammy just can’t box, and his father comforts him, reminding him that he doesn’t need to box: Joe Louis has shown him that he “can be the champion at anything [he] want[s].” The high point of this offering is the big fight itself, everyone crowded around the radio in Mister Jake’s general store, the imagined fight scenes played out in soft-edged sepia frames. The main story, however, is so bent on providing Sammy and the reader with object lessons that all subtlety is lost, as Mister Jake, Sammy’s father, and even Ernie hammer home the message. Both text and oil-on-canvas-paper illustrations go for the obvious angle, making the effort as a whole worthy, but just a little too heavy-handed. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: May 1, 2004
ISBN: 1-58430-161-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2004
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses.
An NBA star pays tribute to the influence of his grandfather.
In the same vein as his Long Shot (2009), illustrated by Frank Morrison, this latest from Paul prioritizes values and character: “My granddad Papa Chilly had dreams that came true,” he writes, “so maybe if I listen and watch him, / mine will too.” So it is that the wide-eyed Black child in the simply drawn illustrations rises early to get to the playground hoops before anyone else, watches his elder working hard and respecting others, hears him cheering along with the rest of the family from the stands during games, and recalls in a prose afterword that his grandfather wasn’t one to lecture but taught by example. Paul mentions in both the text and the backmatter that Papa Chilly was the first African American to own a service station in North Carolina (his presumed dream) but not that he was killed in a robbery, which has the effect of keeping the overall tone positive and the instructional content one-dimensional. Figures in the pictures are mostly dark-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-81003-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
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