This latest mathematical adventure explores patterning. Matt and Bibi are in Peru so their scientist parents can help decode the patterns on a 500-year-old tunic. All the adventure-loving twins need to hear is that the tunic belonged to the messenger of a never-discovered hidden city, and they are off and running. Riding on guanacos high in the mountains, the only thing Matt can find to keep him warm is the aforementioned tunic. Rather fortuitous, as the patterns on the tunic help them survive pitfalls along the way, while the last two patterns are the key to unlocking the city’s doors. Langdo’s vibrantly colored watercolors support the text, but are not enough to help readers decipher the last pattern. Focusing on repeating, positional and growing patterns, this would benefit from more examples since the story overwhelms the math. A final note provides ideas for activities to practice patterning. Similar flaws mar all the books in this series, this being no exception: lack of adult supervision, disregard for artifacts and the twins’ reliance on pure luck to save the day. All in all a disappointment, although it does fill a gap in the shelf for this concept. (Picture book. 6-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-8050-7954-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Sloat collaborates with Huffman, a Yu’pik storyteller, to infuse a traditional “origins” tale with the joy of creating. Hearing the old women of her village grumble that they have only tasteless crowberries for the fall feast’s akutaq—described as “Eskimo ice cream,” though the recipe at the end includes mixing in shredded fish and lard—young Anana carefully fashions three dolls, then sings and dances them to life. Away they bound, to cover the hills with cranberries, blueberries, and salmonberries. Sloat dresses her smiling figures in mixes of furs and brightly patterned garb, and sends them tumbling exuberantly through grassy tundra scenes as wildlife large and small gathers to look on. Despite obtrusively inserted pronunciations for Yu’pik words in the text, young readers will be captivated by the action, and by Anana’s infectious delight. (Picture book/folktale. 6-8)
Pub Date: June 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-88240-575-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2004
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
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