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Demarest, Chris
8 Reviews
(4)
K-3
This richly detailed picture book presents the origin and history of Arlington National Cemetery from its early ties to George Washington to its present-day significance. Demarest's illustrations successfully create the tranquil setting and complement the respectful tone of the thorough, well-researched text. In spite of a few significant misspellings (e.g., Fort Sumpter), this is a satisfying introduction to a national landmark. Reading list, timeline, websites.
Reviewer: Tamara DePasquale
(2)
K-3
Demarest adds to his boy-friendly series of concept books with this alphabetic tribute to the armed forces. For each letter, the author-illustrator includes the International Communications Alphabet-designated word and the U.S. Navy's signal flag. The vigorous illustrations are action-filled; each is accompanied by a sentence that gives a context for the picture while using words beginning with the relevant letter.
Reviewer: Roger Sutton
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
July, 2005
(4)
K-3
Demarest follows Hotshots! and two other action-oriented books about heroic firefighters with this similarly dramatic account of a Coast Guard rescue at sea. Although the brief text frequently strains to fit the rhyming format ("From the raft a sailor drops into the sea / and is guided into the basket safely"), the dynamic pastel art captures the urgency of the featured event.
Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann
(4)
K-3
Demarest introduces highly trained hotshots, "the elite ground firefighting corps." Intense pastel illustrations bring the devastating power of wildfires and the people who fight them vividly to life. Unfortunately, the poorly rhymed text as well as a diagram, incorporate complicated terms not defined in context or in the author's note (chaparral, Nomex). Reading list, videos, websites.
Reviewer: Jeannine M. Chapman
(4)
K-3
From one to ten and back again, this counting book brims with the lore of smokejumping. Bright pastel illustrations document a chronological account of fighting a forest fire, beginning with a lightning bolt and ending with the smokejumpers' packout and flight home. Unfortunately, in Demarest's impressive attempt to reconcile the demands of accuracy, chronology, and rhyme, his meter occasionally suffers. Bib.
Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian
(2)
PS
In a smoothly rhyming text, this exciting alphabet book details what happens from the time the alarm sounds at the fire station to the final "zip into bed for a rest" once the blaze has been extinguished. Permeated with intense primary colors, the images in the action-oriented artwork build on one another to convey the physical nature of this dramatic but serious job.
Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
July, 2000
(4)
K-3
"C are the Cattle that follow the trail. / D is the Dog, wagging his tail." This rhyming alphabet book introduces words related to the cowboy way of life such as jinglebobs, lariat, and tumbleweed. The text is somewhat awkward, but young buckaroos will enjoy the large, clear watercolor illustrations of cowboys and their surroundings.
Reviewer: Pamela McCuen
(4)
PS
A little goose honks all around the farmyard, looking for its mother; readers lifting the flaps will discover animals oinking, neighing, and mooing back at them. Demarest uses watercolor and a quick black line to create casual, cartoony illustrations to accompany his reassuring, if slight, tale.
Reviewer: Jackie C. Horne
8 reviews
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