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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"A-never-going-to-be-friends-again-day.", November 2, 2005
This review is from: Hot Day on Abbott Avenue (Jane Addams Honor Book (Awards)) (Hardcover)
It's a steaming summer day, the sun beating down on the sidewalk, too hot to even flutter a fan. Kishi sits alone on her front porch; Renee sprawls on the grass, looking for four-leaf clovers. Although best friends, neither girl will speak to one another on this sweltering summer morning, even when Mrs. Johnson asks them to help with her crossword puzzle, or when Mr. Paul invites them to weed his flower bed. Later, one girl plays with the hose, pretending she's under a waterfall, the other plays hopscotch, still alone. It seems the girls have had a falling out over which one got the last blue popsicle that morning, leaving the other with none.
Both girls are stubborn, determined not to give in, until they hear the seductive thump of a jump rope hitting the ground, the chant of neighborhood friends, "Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack..." Neither can resist. Soon find they are turning the ropes for Double Dutch, everyone jumping for all they're worth. When the ice cream truck comes around for the second time on this sizzling summer day, all the neighborhood kids run to buy blue popsicles. Kishi and Renee find themselves in the same predicament as in the morning, only this time they have learned their lesson, splitting the popsicle, one-half for each. Now it is a "feeling-good-about-being-best-friends-again-day".
The images that accompany the story are quite remarkable, paper collages cleverly arranged to form the figures, layered for dimension, with bright colors, all of it creating a sense of streets baking in the summer sun, two girls bored without a best friend to pass the time with, but unwilling to bridge the gap. This is a great lesson in coming-together-after-a-fight and learning to share. Beautifully written and illustrated. Luan Gaines/ 2005.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hot Day, Hot Tempers, April 16, 2005
This review is from: Hot Day on Abbott Avenue (Jane Addams Honor Book (Awards)) (Hardcover)
As the fat sun looms in the air above Abbott Avenue, Renée and Kishi, with tempers as sizzling as this summer day, vow that they will never be friends again. They spend their afternoon sneaking peaks at each other, searching for a glimmer of an apology or a hint of regret, yet knowing neither would raise a white flag of defeat on this "never-speak-to-her-again-even-if-she-was-the-last-person-on-earth" day. Suddenly, a chant, visually winding around the pages' illustrations, begins to echo in the distance. Renée and Kishi emerge from their solitary playgrounds and follow the Siren-like sounds of "humming ropes" that seem to kiss the air. Soon, the pangs of the day are erased with a few hops of double dutch and the sweet taste of a shared blue ice pop. This lyrical story awakens the senses with a harmonious blend of engaging text and cut paper and found-object collage, sending the reader on an everyday journey with everyday magic. The illustrations' hues seem to melt off the page, saturating the reader's thoughts with a simmering brew of intrigue and dizzying chaos. While the collages may appear an arresting whirlwind of activity, the energy provided through this medium enhances the innocence of the text, allowing the words to capture the beauty of each moment of the story. This subtle message, emphasizing the challenges of friendship and forgiveness, is sure to please children of every age.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hot town, summer in the city., March 6, 2005
This review is from: Hot Day on Abbott Avenue (Jane Addams Honor Book (Awards)) (Hardcover)
When friends have a falling out, no one ends up happy. This is the case whether the friends are four, fourteen, or forty. There are roughly seven hundred million picture books about such break-ups too. Some of these are good. Most of these are not. Now in the case of "Hot Day on Abbott Avenue", the book is excellent. Well written. Illustrated with something akin to aplomb. And it's a story that kids can relate to. Friends break-up every day. How they get back together is the important lesson to be learned.
It's hot. Sticky, nasty, "too hot to even flutter a fan" hot. And what happens when the temperature rises? So do tempers too. In the case of Kishi and Renee, we first meet them as they keep a careful distance from one another. These former best friends who used to be so close have quarreled. It seems the ice cream man came through and Kishi went and bought the last blue ice pop when she KNEW that it was Renee's favorite. Kishi points out that it's her favorite too, but there's no agreeing between these two. For them, this is a never-going-to-be-friends-again day. Period. It's only when they find themselves lured to a tempting double dutch game down the street and meet up with a restocked ice cream man that these two can put aside their differences and become best friends again.
Now author Karen English has written a nice story. It's not going to knock your socks off, and it's not quite as good as her amazing, "Speak To Me (And I Will Listen Between the Lines)" which also came out in 2004. Still, it's a good story about healing rifts. Javaka Steptoe is the wonder behind this book's visually entrancing format. Using a combination of the most delicate cut papers alongside found-object collage, the story becomes an engrossing read simply because it's such a wonder to page through. Renee and Kishi's neighbor Miss Johnson is decked out in pale transparent yellow slacks and a crinkly realistic pink crepe paper shirt that must've taken Steptoe days to get exactly right. When Kishi aims a water hose straight up to jump through, the water is a string of pink curly streamers going haywire into the sky. There's a real sense of movement and energy to these pictures. Static paper never seemed so vibrant.
Certainly this kind of illustration is not going to be to everybody's taste. But for those who're interested, "Hot Day on Abbott Avenue" is a beautifully illustrated well-written romp. A great tale with great characters that kids everywhere will understand and identify with.
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