Maira Kalman

A very special book which is very Maira Kalman... if you’re familiar with her work you recognize her approach and her illustration style which is naive and charming and her wandering from one subject to another seemingly at random accompanied by a handwritten narrative of sorts, which is partly inner monologue and partly commentary on the images which are based on photos she takes. She is a collector of odds and ends; ticket stubs, things that fall out of books, postcards of waterfalls and show more saints, a lover of unusual hats and hairdos. Family, war, existential questions, Russian authors and their love stories, it’s all there as a collection of anecdotes, all treated in a picture book format for adults. If you’re familiar with this artist you will love this book, and if not, this is a great introduction to a quirky and original mind. There’s even a recipe in the appendix for the honey cake she mentions sharing with her 88 year-old aunt in Tel-Aviv which I’ll definitely try out; I haven’t had homemade honey cake in ages and it’s really quite delicious. show less

Millionaire dog-poet Max Stravinsky returns in this follow-up to Max Makes a Million, having finally made his dream of visiting Paris a reality. Alternately narrated by Max and by Mimi (a French woman?), the tale follows our canine hero as he explores the city of love, seeing the sights and meeting many wonderful people and dogs. But there is a certain something he is missing - love itself. Will Max find romance...?

Like its predecessor, I found Ooh-la-la (Max in Love) quite entertaining, show more enjoying the oddball humor, poetic text, and detailed montage-style illustrations. The language Maira Kalman uses here is fun, and I can see storytellers making good use of the various voices and accents, when reading the story aloud. There's also quite a bit going on, visually speaking, so the young reader will have plenty to pore over. I particularly liked the scene in which the poems of the sidewalk poet that Max encounters are written on all of the objects depicted, making for an interesting side-project, while reading and perusing. Originally published in 1991, this second picture-book about Max and his adventures was just reprinted this year (2018) by the New York Review Children's Collection, and they have plans to reprint the two later titles in the series - Max in Hollywood, Baby and Swami on Rye: Max in India - later this year. Recommended to Maira Kalman fans, and to anyone who read and enjoyed the first story about Max and his quirky adventures. show less

Commissioned in 1931, the John J. Harvey was the sleekest and fastest fireboat of its day, racing around New York City to put out fires. After many years of service it was retired, and was due to be scrapped when a group of friends purchased it, refurbished it, and had it declared a historical landmark. No one expected that it would ever be used to fight fires again. Then, on September 11th, 2001, New York City was attacked and the water pipes around the Twin Towers were damaged. Suddenly show more the John J. Harvey was needed again...

Beautifully written and illustrated, Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey had me tearing up on more than one occasion. I was already familiar with the amazing story of the many boats that came to the aid of the people trapped in lower Manhattan on that day, ferrying over 500,000 people to safer locations in New Jersey, Connecticut and elsewhere in New York state in the largest maritime rescue in history. My mother was on one of those boats, and ended up in New Jersey. There's a powerful documentary about it, BOATLIFT - An Untold Tale of 9/11 Resilience, that I recommend. That said, the story of the John J. Harvey was unknown to me, and I am glad to have learnt about it through author/illustrator Maira Kalman's wonderful book. The text was understated but emotionally resonant, the artwork powerful. Recommended to those seeking children's books about 9/11, and about the resilience of the human spirit. show less

This book could not have crossed my path at a better time. It is a celebration of America, its founding, its growth, its successes, its challenges. "Written" (so much of it is illustrated) in 2010, it is organized by months of the year, with one historical figure per month. But beyond that it is a far-ranging examination of places and ideals and tradition and possibility. She visits the Library of Congress, Mt. Vernon, the Pentagon, Lincoln's log cabin birth place, Ft. Campbell, Susan B. show more Anthony's home, an organic farm in CA, meets RBG (sigh), the supervisor of the Newton Creek Sewage Plant in Brooklyn, various US senators and representatives, a farm-to-table chef, and on and on, some named and famous, some unknown, but all important by virtue of their contributions to our nation. The drawings and photographs are relevant, beautiful, evocative and either complement the text or inspire it. The whole collection made me smile. show less