The First Dog (1988)

     I'm not sure what to make of the The First Dog by Jan Brett (1988). A publisher’s note  states that between 35,000 and 12,000 years ago: “… It may have been during this period that the first wild animals were domesticated. Jan Brett has created an appealing story from this possibility…” Perhaps I can assume that Jan Brett did her homework and learned about animals of the Pleistocene period. References to cave paintings and fossils decorate the borders, consistent with her style of illustration.

    The main human character, Kip, appears to be a white boy dressed in animal skins who is clean and in good health. The text feels somewhat static, the scenes repetitive. A wolf’s keen senses of smell, hearing, and sight serve to save the child from animal predators. Consequently, at the end of the story, Kip makes a deal -- “‘Wolfy, if you will use your keen nose and your fine ears and your sharp eyes to keep me from being eaten up, I promise to share with you all the woolly rhino ribs and even mammoth meat that I cook over my fire.’” Kip names his new companion Dog. 

     As always, Jan Brett wows us with her meticulously beautiful illustrations. 

 

She Persisted Around the World (2018)

    She Persisted Around theWorld: 13 Women Who Changed History by Chelsea Clinton (2018),  has brief biographies of women who challenged cultural expectations. Double spaced ITC Kennerley font respects the young reader with an academic, yet readable, appearance. These famous females won battles in schooling, science, voting, civil rights, medicine, law, soccer, war, and dance around the world. Leymah Gbowee of  Liberia said, “The more I  did, the  more I could do, the  more I wanted to do, the  more I saw needed to be done.” 

     Alexandra Boiger’s illustrations “were done in  watercolor and ink  on Fabriano paper, then  edited in Photoshop.” A special touch are quotes from each woman. 

Molly and the Sword (1996)

      Molly and the Sword by Robert Shlasko, (1996) is unoriginal and tedious. Molly is a good daughter who demonstrates qualities one might want to instill in young readers. She lives in a small village, keeps an eye on her younger brother and sister, and helps her father in his clock shop. When her happy family experiences adversity, Molly is courageous. 

     When good times return, her father sells his most beautiful clock and uses the money to purchase Molly a violin. Against all odds, and with self-confidence beyond her years, she becomes a famous violinist. At the end of the story, she encounters royalty who appeared early on as an enemy. One moral of the story seems to be that this royal figure “taught her that an enemy could become a friend.” In the context of this story and with the accompanying illustration, I found this ending disturbing. Despite Donna Diamond’s careful illustrations, I can’t recommend this book.

The Eleventh Hour: A Curious Mystery (1988)

      The Eleventh Hour: A CuriousMystery by Graeme Base (1988) showcases his engaging artwork and gifted intellect. Oh, how I  love the complex illustrations! 

     Horace  the elephant plans a party to celebrate his eleventh birthday. Horace cooks up a  feast and his guests arrive in costume. “The Pig came as an Admiral, The Zebra as a Punk. The Rhino was an Astronaut, his spacesuit made of junk.” Yes, not only is this a mystery, but it’s a mystery in rhyme! The guests play party games. There’s a sack race on the lawn, musical chairs, poker, pool, and tennis to name a few. When it’s time to eat, the guests discover the food has been eaten. “They stood in disbelief. For all the food had disappeared. Aghast, they cried: ‘A Thief!’” 

     Horace saves the day by making sandwiches. He kept the birthday cake in the kitchen, so it was not eaten. “And so, they picnicked on the lawn until the evening fell, and everyone left satisfied - the day had finished well. But in the end, although the thief was someone they all knew, They never found out who it was that stole the feast - can you?” A "Notes for Detectives" page urges readers to discover who stole the feast and how it was done. The final pages explain everything.

     I was disappointed to see the book copyrighted by Double Day because this ingenious tale belongs to the author.

 

The Surprise Visitor (2005)

      I love Julie Kangas’ illustrations in The Surprise Visitor (2005). The copyright page says, ``The artwork was prepared using ink, watercolor, and oil wash.” Julie Kangas paints sweet little animals in a forest. 

     First, we meet Edgar, a mouse dressed in sweater vest and bowtie. A round, blue, speckled object blows against his front door and the story is about Edgar’s search for a family to adopt it. We stroll through luscious landscapes of clover, pebbles, and flowers in which live softly rendered bunnies, squirrels, a tortoise, and bird. The animals are handsomely dressed in patterned shawls and vests. Exquisitely rendered pinecones hang from fir trees. An earthy palette of browns and greens gains energy from dashes of deep blue, golds, rustic reds, and purple. 

     Much of the text is dialogue between the forest creatures. Although I prefer narrative that is more poetic and linguistically challenging, this is an adorable story sure to entertain the preschool child.

The Three Little Pigs (1997)

      I was so taken by the three little pigs on the cover of The Three Little Pigs Retold and Illustrated by Steven Kellogg (1997) that it was weeks before I noticed the wolf. Can you find it?  The cover is captivating.  Why do these pigs have a huge waffle? How will Stephen Kellogg retell this classic? 

     On the title page, a paper airplane flies in through a window—it read HELP, SAVE ME. The surprised recipient is so startled that whatever was on her fork is now falling back onto her plate, which means her entire body startled in response to the paper airplane that’s about to land on her lunch. 

     On the first page of the story, we discover that Kellogg’s writing is as well-crafted as his illustrations. The characters, setting, and problem are described four sentences loaded with alliteration. Serafina Sow wants to bring waffles into the world to support her family of three piglets. This enterprising pig designs and builds a waffle iron on wheels, then drives from hamlet to hamlet selling waffles.  Serafina’s piglets eventually graduate from school and retires to the Gulf of Pasta. The three pigs take over the business. One day, along comes a wolf named Tempesto, giving the story a classic feel. In Kellogg’s version of the story, Serafina Sow comes to the rescue. 

     You’ll need to read the book to learn what happens to Tempesto. Let’s just say he gives up a life of crime.

*Working Cotton (1992)

      Working Cotton (1992) by Sherley Anne Williams received a Caldecott honor medal.  On the cover, a young Black girl stares directly at the reader, her arms full of cotton, as she sits in an endless field that engulfs her.  What I see are smooth, somewhat blurred depictions that whitewash a brutal reality. The author's note does not mention slavery. Instead, she writes that  "our shame as a nation is not that so many children work the fields but that’s so few of them have other options." 

     This book preserves a dialect, e.g., "it be cold cold cold the sun be out soon daddy say burn off this fog",  and "daddy's cutting sack so long, they have to fold it double to weigh it. Take a long time to empty his sack into the trailer." The illustrations are riveting. They draw us in close enough to guess at the life of these field workers, but not so close as to look away from the harsh conditions. 

     There is a note that the illustrations by Carole M. Byard were done in acrylic paints on Stonehedge white paper.