Pub Date: March 8, 2011
Dewey: B
LCCN: 2010006512
Lexile Code: 0750
Features: Dust Cover, Illustrated, Price on Product - Canadian, Price on Product
Target Age Group: 07 to 10
Physical Info: 0.40" H x 11.20" L x 8.30" W ( 0.96 lbs) 48 pages
BISAC Categories:
Juvenile Nonfiction | Biography and Autobiography | Literary | History | United States 19th Century | Humor | General
Description: Who better to tell the tale of the life of Mark Twain than Huckleberry Finn? True to Huck's voice, this picture book biography is a riverboat ride through the life of a real American treasure. Full color.
Brief description: Barry Blitt's illustrations have appeared on more than eighty New Yorker covers and have also graced the pages of The New York Times and Entertainment Weekly. He is the illustrator of Once Upon a Time, the End (Asleep in 60 Seconds) by Geoffrey Koske and The Adventures of Mark Twain by Huckleberry Finn by Robert Burleigh, as well as other picture books. He lives in Roxbury, Connecticut.
Review Quotes: *BURLEIGH, Robert. The Adventures of Mark Twain by Huckleberry Finn. illus. by Barry Blitt. unpaged. chron. CIP. S & S/Atheneum. 2010. RTE $17.99. ISBN 978-0-689-83041-9. LC 2010006512.
Gr 4-8-What would Huck Finn have to say about his creator? Burleigh and Blitt take an unusual perspective in this picture-book biography. In Huck's colloquial voice, a portrait of Twain emerges that is engaging, accessible, and highly original. From his boyhood on the Mississippi, through his riverboat days, his writing and public speaking careers, and his adult family life, the main points of the writer's life are covered. Blitt's humorous illustrations are a perfect match for the tall-tale-inspired text. Rendered in pen, ink, and watercolor, the caricature style suits both Huck's voice and Twain's life. The muted blues and browns of the palette have an old-fashioned quality that amplifies the 19th-century setting. The cover illustration, of Huck on a book "raft" paddling with a fountain pen, cleverly demonstrates the book's premise. Although children will be entertained by the account, the most enthusiastic audience may be students familiar with Twain's work. One does not need to know Huck's story to understand Twain's, but doing so will increase appreciation for the ingenious nature of this collaboration.-Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA - School Library Journal March 1, 2011 STAR