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WHEN ARTIE WAS LITTLE

Name: WHEN ARTIE WAS LITTLE
Author: Harriet Berg Schwartz
ISBN: 0-679-83236-X

by Harriet Berg Schwartz & illustrated by Thomas B. Allen ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 30, 1996

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Scenes from a childhood in 1920s Hoboken, wistfully recalled by an elderly man. Carefully blowing the dust off events from the distant past, Schwartz (Backstage With Clawdio, 1993) describes the time Artie found a pony tied to a Christmas tree in his living room; the time he was befriended by the mayor of Hoboken; and the time a barnstormer gave him a ride in his biplane. Each episode ends with a paragraph about how the now-old Artie retells these events to young listeners. The book closes with Artie going over the high points of his childhood. Young readers will find it easy to appreciate Artie's memories—his nostalgia is contagious. The hazy pastel illustrations by Allen form the perfect lens for viewing these long-gone times, and fill the world of Artie's childhood with a dry, diaphanous light. The old photographs of, presumably, the real Artie, reproduced in the endpapers, provide the stories with a factual frame that adds yet another dimension to this wise and lyrical book. (Picture book. 4-9)

Pub Date: June 30, 1996

ISBN: 0-679-83236-X

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1996

Categories:

CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
BACKSTAGE WITH CLAWDIO
by Harriet Berg Schwartz & illustrated by David Catrow

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HANSEL AND GRETEL

by Stephen King ; illustrated by Maurice Sendak ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 2, 2025

Menacing and most likely to appeal to established fans of its co-creators.

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Existing artwork from an artistic giant inspires a fairy-tale reimagination by a master of the horror genre.

In King’s interpretation of a classic Brothers Grimm story, which accompanies set and costume designs that the late Sendak created for a 1997 production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera, siblings Hansel and Gretel survive abandonment in the woods and an evil witch’s plot to gobble them up before finding their “happily ever after” alongside their father. Prose with the reassuring cadence of an old-timey tale, paired with Sendak’s instantly recognizable artwork, will lull readers before capitalizing on these creators’ knack for injecting darkness into seemingly safe spaces. Gaping faces loom in crevices of rocks and trees, and a gloomy palette of muted greens and ocher amplify the story’s foreboding tone, while King never sugarcoats the peach-skinned children’s peril. Branches with “clutching fingers” hide “the awful enchanted house” of a “child-stealing witch,” all portrayed in an eclectic mix of spot and full-bleed images. Featuring insults that might strike some as harsh (“idiot,” “fool”), the lengthy, dense text may try young readers’ patience, and the often overwhelmingly ominous mood feels more pitched to adults—particularly those familiar with King and Sendak—but an introduction acknowledges grandparents as a likely audience, and nostalgia may prompt leniency over an occasional disconnect between words and art.

Menacing and most likely to appeal to established fans of its co-creators. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025

ISBN: 9780062644695

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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BECAUSE YOUR DADDY LOVES YOU

by Andrew Clements & illustrated by R.W. Alley ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 23, 2005

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Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)