From Publishers Weekly
Portraying Columbus from his boyhood to his first landing in the Americas, Sis's ( Waving ; Alphabet Soup ) account is straightforward but somewhat flat. Though his minimal text often reads like a rushed summary, his artwork is extraordinary. With their rich, earthy hues, fine cross-hatching and, in many instances, the semblance of parchment or aged oils, these illustrations recall the maps, charts and paintings of Columbus's own era. Sis is especially adept at evoking the life of the mind and suggesting bridges between reality and imagination. In one particularly striking scene, the child Columbus, charged with weaving a bolt of cloth, imagines a world where the loom is his ship and the star-studded cloth his sail; in another, the monsters of the deep are depicted as they might be envisioned by the fearful men sailing west for the first time. Ages 5-10.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
edition.
From School Library Journal
Grade 2-4--A fascinating artistic represen tation of the discovery of the New World. In a preface, Sis makes refer ence to Columbus escaping the walls of fear and ignorance that encompassed 15th-century Europe and uses that mo tif freely throughout--as a curtain framing a view of Genoa, a background for pictures of Columbus's early life, and in an endpaper map of Europe sur rounded by a wall. The illustrations, ex ecuted in a variety of media--oil, ink, watercolor, and gouache--show scenes from the explorer's life as well as some of the many imaginary creatures that populated the Europeans' picture of the outside world at that time. Sis uses col ors ranging from drab browns and grays, to a rose-colored sky that is a background for the king and queen of Spain, and deep blues and greens for the ocean. A double-page medieval- style map is bordered with important dates and small pictures representing those dates, while another double page shows many postage-stamp-size repre sentations of the sea as described in Co lumbus's log. The many details on each page invite individual readers to pay close attention, but the brief, clear text and framed illustrations lend them selves equally well to group sharing. Make room on your crowded Colum bus shelf for this one.
-Jean H. Zim merman, Willett School, South River, NJCopyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
edition.
