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(2)
K-3
Illustrated by
Doug Keith.
Approaching Giant Island in Grandpa's motorboat, Ava and Mason wonder why the small island has such a name. Grandpa says it's always been called that: "That's what my grandpa told me." The children explore the island while Grandpa goes fishing and discover a cave "dripping with mystery." Next, they jump into the water, noting that there "seemed to be magic everywhere" (the illustration shows the two floating in giant bubbles beneath the water's surface). From a rocky ledge they can see the entire island: "Mason, look! The whole island is a giant!" By wielding perspective and scale in playful ways, Keith provides visual clues along the way: a stone that serves as the giant's eye, moss that looks like its hair, and rocks under the water that form a giant's affable face. The rocky ledge is the giant's extended arm. Yolen fills the text with the children's excited dialogue, which gives the book a lively tone; when Grandpa whispers as they leave at sunset, "Always good to see you, old friend," readers know his intention was to give his grandchildren the same thrilling adventures he had as a child. The contrasts in the opening and closing endpapers celebrate the power of imagination to make magic.
Reviewer: Julie Danielson
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
September, 2022
40 pp.
| Taylor
| June, 1998
|
TradeISBN 0-87833-997-3$$14.95
(4)
4-6
Illustrated by
Doug Keith.
Published spring 1998. Emphasizing the values they learned as children and relied on to become successful, Seattle Mariners shortstop Rodriguez and New England Patriots quarterback Bledsoe offer advice to readers. Color photographs accompany the mixture of good advice and biographical detail, but the poorly designed books also include amateurish drawings.