An animated sequel that does not disappoint.
Four stalwart mice return in this second book of The Song of the Winns, risking their lives as spies to help liberate Gerander from oppressive neighboring Souris.
In The Secret of the Ginger Mice (2012), triplets Alex, Alice and Alistair and their friend, Tibby Rose, discovered their Gerandan roots and Free and Independent Gerander, a resistance organization dedicated to restoring Gerander’s independence. The triplets also learned their missing parents were FIG operatives, imprisoned on Atticus Island. Arriving at FIG headquarters, the four mice receive dangerous undercover assignments. Alistair and Tibby Rose must find a network of ancient tunnels in northern Gerander near the source of the Winns River and, they hope, rescue Alistair’s parents. Meanwhile, Alex and Alice will pose as Sourian servants to infiltrate the palace in Gerander’s capital city and gather information useful to FIG. Both pairs use their wits and bravado to survive serial perils, only to find that someone in FIG has betrayed them. A breathless plot alternates between Alistair and Tibby Rose’s quest and Alex and Alice’s spy activities, carrying the resilient, endearing mice to a surprise ending and ensuring their key role in the future fight to save Gerander. Delicate pen-and-ink spot art memorializes chapter details.
An animated sequel that does not disappoint. (map) (Animal fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: May 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7624-4658-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Running Press Kids
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
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