Kirkus Star
THE KIRKUS STAR
Awarded to Books of Exceptional Merit

BROWSE BOOK REVIEWS




Children's and Teen: 6 - 8 years old


Cover art for JIGSAW
CHILDREN'S
Released: Sept. 1, 1997
by Miriam Moss, illustrated by Tony Smith

"The book is suddenly pointless, and a use of gaudy typefaces and a jarring page design cannot compensate for the lack of drama. (Picture book. 4-9)"
 The book's cover declares, ``Piece together the mystery!''- -but readers' hopes for some sleuthing are never realized in a series of sentences with internal rhyme: ``In a wood beneath a hood—/something stirred.'' Jigsaw-puzzle pieces on each page echo aspects of the full image in the double-page spread. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE 13TH CLUE
CHILDREN'S
Released: Oct. 23, 1992
by Ann Jonas, illustrated by Ann Jonas

"Another handsome and appealing book from this unusually innovative artist. (Picture book. 4-8)"
 ``What a terrible day,'' reads the diary, but ``at least they sang to me at school.'' What follows is a treasure-hunt ending, of course, in a birthday party; in this case, it's the clues along the way that intrigue: instructions spelled out in the grass, with clothes on a line, with a coiled jump rope or carefully laid sticks; to be read upside down or inside out, or by unscrambling an anagram or decoding a rebus—all imaginatively displayed in Jonas's clean, beautifully composed illustrations. Read full book review >