Though just a context-void bagatelle for actual children, perhaps teen and adult steampunk enthusiasts will take a look.
Here’s another ABC book that takes an unusual theme and manipulates the device for a very sophisticated audience.
Picture-book-age children will not be familiar with the term “steampunk,” which is best known as a subgenre of fantasy and science fiction. The label typically features fantasy worlds powered by steam and clockwork and retro-futuristic inventions, often in a Victorian-style setting. Falkenstern takes that construct and adds two adorable mice, dressed in Victorian clothing, who use gadgets and found objects to invent machines, mostly using everyday tools. A is for Anvil; M is for Monkey wrench; P is for Periscope; Q is for Quartz; W is for Windsock; X Marks the spot; Z is for Zeppelin. Though there is no narrative as such, savvy readers will wonder what the various contrivances are leading to, if anything. The last page reveals the answer, as the mice float off on the zeppelin that they have contrived to build. The intricately detailed illustrations are quite fascinating and eye-catching, with the mice sporting French cuffs and bow ties, and one wears a red vest and derby hat. The disparity between format and content begs the eternal question, though: Who is the audience for this book?
Though just a context-void bagatelle for actual children, perhaps teen and adult steampunk enthusiasts will take a look. (Picture book. 12 & up)Pub Date: April 15, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4778-4722-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Two Lions
Review Posted Online: Jan. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
From McDonald (Tundra Mouse, 1997, etc.), a haunting, dramatic glimpse of the Bone Keeper, a trickster with special transformational powers. Some say Bone Woman is a ghost; some envision her with three heads that view past, present, and future simultaneously. Most, however, call her the “Skeleton Maker” or “Keeper of Bones.” Chanting, shaking, moaning, and wailing, the Bone Keeper is frenzied as she sorts bones; not until the end of the book are readers told, in murmuring lines of free verse, what the Bone Keeper is creating in her mysterious desert cave. Out of the darkness, a wolf springs to life, leaps from the cave, howling, a symbol of resurrection and proof of life’s cyclical nature. Also keeping readers guessing as to the Bone Keeper’s final creation are Karas’s paintings; they, too, require that the final piece of the puzzle be placed before all are understood. The coloring and textures embody the desert setting in the evening, showing the fearsome cave and sandy shadows that wait to release the mystery of the bones. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7894-2559-9
Page Count: 30
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1999
Give Jobling a hand for crafting a sequel that’s even more lurid and action packed than the opener.
The second episode in a series projected to run to at least six cranks up the stakes, the gore, the body count and the number of super-powered were-creatures as the kingdom of Westland is overwhelmed by huge armies of invaders.
The cruel, depraved, deposed Lion King (take that, Disney) sits besieged in his tower, but his mad werelion son Lucas and wererat minion Vankaskan remain free—to kidnap werefox Lady Gretchen and sneak out through the sewers of Highcliff. In pursuit goes werewolf/reluctant royal heir Drew and best buddy/romantic complication Whitley, unaware that they are heading straight into the claws of Catlord invaders led by Onyx, a gigantic werepanther. Frequently punctuated with blood-spattered massacres and atrocities, the multi-threaded plot speeds its way to a pair of separate climactic battles. One leaves Drew’s allies scattered in flight, and the other puts Drew aboard a slave ship bound for a gladiatorial arena overseas.
Give Jobling a hand for crafting a sequel that’s even more lurid and action packed than the opener. (Fantasy. 12-15)Pub Date: June 19, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-670-01389-0
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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