With this story for younger children, prolific Newbery Medalist George (Cliff Hanger, p. 732, etc.) continues the wilderness saga of young Sam Gribley and his peregrine falcon friend, Frightful, the beloved main characters of the My Side of the Mountain trilogy. In this picture book addition to the series, Frightful has given birth to a particularly independent chick named Oksi, and Sam rescues Oksi when a bird trader steals her nest mates. He takes the chick to his tree house home, where her mother, Frightful, often joins her. The storyline follows Oksi as she grows up, aided when necessary by Sam, who is still living the self-determined life in the forest detailed in the earlier novels. Oksi does things “on her own in her own way,” including staying behind with Sam when the other falcons fly south for the winter and returning to her nest box in the tree house the following spring with a mate. Oksi’s independent and unorthodox ways echo Sam’s own solitary lifestyle, and perhaps foreshadow future stories in which Sam and Oksi will remain allies. As always, San Souci’s (Mustang Canyon, p. 1136, etc.) well-researched, detailed paintings add greatly to the story, offering a concrete visual representation of the beautiful Catskill Mountains setting. (Don’t miss the sweeping vista of the mountain on the dedication page: far below the soaring falcon, Sam’s special tree and the nest box are visible to readers with sharp eyes.) The best use of this volume may be as a “prequel” to the related novels, as a means of introducing children to Sam Gribley’s intriguing world. (Picture book. 5-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-525-46907-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2002
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books.
Curious about the Big Wide World outside his Sasquatch community, Hugo makes a friend who is of it.
Sasquatch Hugo’s bedroom is inside a cave and possesses the charming feature of a small stream running through it that he can sail his little toy boat on. It’s cool, but he yearns to see the Big Wide World. When he asks his smart friend Gigi if a Sasquatch might become a sailor, she says it’s possible but would be difficult—the primary rule of their people is to not be seen by Humans. Then, in everyone’s favorite Hide and Go Sneak class, which is held outside, a Human appears; Hugo laughs at the sight, drawing Human attention in a taboo-breaking mistake. Shortly after, Hugo’s toy boat floats into the cave with a Human toy—soon, it’s facilitating a pen-pal–type relationship that’s derailed when Hugo confesses to being a Sasquatch and Human Boone, a budding cryptozoologist, doesn’t believe him. How Hugo and Boone resolve this misapprehension and become friends in a joint search for the Ogopogo concludes this series opener. Potter keeps the third-person narrative tightly focused on Hugo’s perspective, and the details she uses to flesh out the Sasquatch world are delightfully playful. Sala’s drawings depict a homey Sasquatch cavern community, Boone as a freckled, white boy, and Hugo as a hairily benevolent behemoth.
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books. (final art unseen) (Fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2859-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
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