Readers unable to absorb pun-ishment, beware! Rambunctious young Henry ignores warnings that his noise will wake the dead—until it does just that. Rising from the local cemetery, a band of irritated corpses goes in search of the racket’s source. Is it the library? No, only dead silence there. The Mayor’s office? Nothing there but skeletons in the closet. The Dead Letter Office? Nope. Relentlessly giving every conceivable expression involving death a literal turn, Harris sends the searchers—portrayed in Kwas’s cartoon illustrations as shrouded but unfrightening figures with peanut-shaped heads—from swimming pool (“A boneheaded idea, since they were dead in the water”) to the park where they’re set to “work their fingers to the bone pushing up daisies.” At last they catch up with Henry, who tries to put them back down with games (“Kick the Bucket”), races (ending in a dead heat), and dance music (“Staying Alive”)—but in the end, it’s a good, old-fashioned bedtime story (Goodnight Goon) that does the trick. A dead cinch for storytime. (Picture book. 6-9)
Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2004
ISBN: 0-8027-8922-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2004
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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