One thing’s certain: It's magic.
A girl leaves her sandcastle at dusk, just as the inevitable tide rushes in, and misses a small, plaintive light that appears in its window. Rushes of tingly surrealism continue throughout this wordless adventure story about the tiny inhabitants of the sandcastle, who escape by boat.
Double-page spreads immerse readers in a fantastical world studded with gem-like pleasures: Miniature mermaids frolic with seahorses, the shipwrecked family forage among towering seashells, starfish and seaweed, their washed-up girl feeds a seagull baby, standing on tippy-toes to reach its beak. While much Thumbelinan pleasure comes from watching the minute creatures navigate our suddenly gigantic world, even more riveting interplay occurs among characters of equal proportion. Arms strain from boat to boy as he’s thrown into the waves and his hands stretch to meet them—from way across the opposite page; a mermaid clutches his shoulders as he descends, locking eyes and leaving him in open-mouthed shock. These striking, imaginative scenes, rendered in a pleasingly realistic style, make for a magical read. Children will surely shout, “Cool!” many times reading such a cinematic, arresting picture book, but they will also diligently peruse the richly detailed illustrations that ultimately make this modern fairy-folk tale so engaging. And then there’s its embedded question, one as slippery as a fish and as old as the ocean: Was it all a dream or real?
One thing’s certain: It's magic. (Picture book. 4-10)Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-59643-470-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Neal Porter/Roaring Brook
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2011
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre.
Ice princess Lina must navigate family and school in this early chapter read.
The family picnic is today. This is not a typical gathering, since Lina’s maternal relatives are a royal family of Windtamers who have power over the weather and live in castles floating on clouds. Lina herself is mixed race, with black hair and a tan complexion like her Asian-presenting mother’s; her Groundling father appears to be a white human. While making a grand entrance at the castle of her grandfather, the North Wind, she fails to successfully ride a gust of wind and crashes in front of her entire family. This prompts her stern grandfather to ask that Lina move in with him so he can teach her to control her powers. Desperate to avoid this, Lina and her friend Claudia, who is black, get Lina accepted at the Hilltop Science and Arts Academy. Lina’s parents allow her to go as long as she does lessons with grandpa on Saturdays. However, fitting in at a Groundling school is rough, especially when your powers start freak winter storms! With the story unfurling in diary format, bright-pink–highlighted grayscale illustrations help move the plot along. There are slight gaps in the storytelling and the pacing is occasionally uneven, but Lina is full of spunk and promotes self-acceptance.
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: June 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-35393-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
Dizzyingly silly.
The famous superhero returns to fight another villain with all the trademark wit and humor the series is known for.
Despite the title, Captain Underpants is bizarrely absent from most of this adventure. His school-age companions, George and Harold, maintain most of the spotlight. The creative chums fool around with time travel and several wacky inventions before coming upon the evil Turbo Toilet 2000, making its return for vengeance after sitting out a few of the previous books. When the good Captain shows up to save the day, he brings with him dynamic action and wordplay that meet the series’ standards. The Captain Underpants saga maintains its charm even into this, the 11th volume. The epic is filled to the brim with sight gags, toilet humor, flip-o-ramas and anarchic glee. Holding all this nonsense together is the author’s good-natured sense of harmless fun. The humor is never gross or over-the-top, just loud and innocuous. Adults may roll their eyes here and there, but youngsters will eat this up just as quickly as they devoured every other Underpants episode.
Dizzyingly silly. (Humor. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-50490-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
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