In 1814, young Alice Cogswell captivated her next-door neighbor, Thomas Gallaudet, with her intelligence and spirit, although the child could neither hear nor speak. He taught her letters, words and reading and then traveled to Europe to study other ways of teaching deaf children. Gallaudet brought Laurent Clerc, a deaf teacher from France, to Connecticut, and together they founded what is now known as the American School for the Deaf, where Alice was the first pupil. McCully’s supple ink-and-watercolor illustrations render interiors, landscape and human emotion with deft precision. She is, as well, both graceful and informative in the text, shaping complicated information into clear and resonant language. Excerpts from Alice’s letters to Gallaudet are not only charming but heartbreaking, as she navigates both the language and the distance between them. Unfortunately, too much dialogue is unsourced, particularly that directed at Alice, leaving important questions unanswered; the text does not address the difficulty of communicating complex concepts in writing or pantomime to a deaf child in the absence of a signed language. (author’s note, biblography) (Informational picture book. 6-9)
Pub Date: July 15, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-4231-0028-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2008
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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