A championship fight sells newspapers, especially the 1927 rematch between the thinking man's fighter, Gene Tunney, and iron- fisted former champ, Jack Dempsey. Paperboy Willie Brinkman is so sure that Dempsey, the ``workingman's hero,'' will win his title back from ``Gentleman Gene'' (so-called because he reads a lot of books) that he signs up to hawk a late edition, the ``Fight Extra.'' (Oddly, the authors don't dispute the notion—an oversimplification of attitudes of the era—that the ``workingman's hero'' is not the one who reads.) When Dempsey loses, Willie is stuck with newspapers no one wants, but his perseverance pays off when he is rewarded with a busier street corner where he can earn more money for his family. The Brinkmans (including the four girls, all of whom have contemporary hair styles) gather around the radio for a blow-by-blow broadcast; silhouettes of Dempsey and Tunney appear in some of the illustrations for (once all the atmospherics are stripped away) a rather ordinary story of a hardworking boy who makes good. (Picture book. 6-9)
Pub Date: March 18, 1996
ISBN: 0-395-64482-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1996
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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