Appealing illustrations combine with lots of text to make this a great read for children transitioning from picture books to...
In the first installment of Blanchard’s 10-part picture-book series, 8-year-old Amelia embarks on an outer-space mission with her alien friend Uglesnoo.
Amelia opens a birthday present to find what appears to be a doll in the likeness of a three-armed creature with an octopus head. Though Amelia swears she sees the doll wink, her mother assures her that it’s an inanimate object. Later in the night, the doll awakens Amelia, introducing himself as Uglesnoo. The strange creature explains that he landed there by mistake and must return to space to procure a healing crystal for his ill sister. Uglesnoo invites Amelia on his journey, promising through magical space-time to have her back before her parents wake in the morning. Amelia agrees, and they set off for the moon, where they meet other friendly alien characters with similarly cute names such as the Moochins and King Suli the Serious. Blanchard uses vibrant shades of cool violet contrasted with buttery yellow to set a warm, energetic atmosphere. The images’ bold hues and three dimensionality have the characters cartoonishly popping off the page in a way sure to engage young readers. The large serif text is also easy on the eyes for both young readers and their caretakers. Blanchard’s illustrations continue throughout, but the story is heavy on text, with some pages including only words. Though the dynamic images are likely to draw in readers of any young age, the tale’s length and complexity may make it best suited for children 5 to 9. Either way, the mission isn’t completed, since Uglesnoo must continue to other locations in space to procure more trade items, setting the stage for the next installment.
Appealing illustrations combine with lots of text to make this a great read for children transitioning from picture books to chapter books.Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2015
ISBN: 978-1500496586
Page Count: 54
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
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
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