Still, fine fare for readers who prefer their nautical comedy broad and don’t mind a few typos along the way.
Despite some extraneous special features and an English translation that is, at best, unvarnished this pirate yarn nonetheless scores points for sheer silly fun.
Rescued from a raft just before he’s eaten by sharks, city-bred Ricky Rat is inducted by Captain Fulgencio Libertador Fox into the hard-drinking, all-animal pirate crew of a ship called a “Chameleon Vessel” because it changes color (in the story at least, if not in the cartoon art) along with the sea. The pirates’ primary adventure is to fetch “bootlegger treasure” from the belly of a white whale. Along the way, they survive repeated ambushes by Admiral Sibilla Snake—a scaly vision clad in haute couture straight out of Vogue—and a layover to visit their hardnosed wives (“You have a female mouse in every port, and maybe even a duck and a hen! Eh?” screams one, clobbering her mate with a heavy cane). Along with two side games and two extra screens that allow users to create new episodes using their own voices and even photos, the 119-page main story features a lively, multi-voiced audio reading, many touch- or tilt-activated items and thumbnail chapter and page indexes. On every page, there is a self-record button along with a set of colored markers that have no evident purpose aside from creating random noises or scribbles.
Still, fine fare for readers who prefer their nautical comedy broad and don’t mind a few typos along the way. (iPad storybook app. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2011
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Giunti Editore
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
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
Wholesome? Yes. Proper hard work and teamwork values in place? Yes. Paint by numbers? Oh, yes.
Olympic gold medalist Morgan runs down the celebrity-sports-fiction checklist in this series opener: New school? Check. New friends? Check. New boyfriend? Maybe! New soccer team? Check. Inspire said team to take on snooty archrival private school? Check.
Quickly shedding perfunctory initial reservations, Devin sails into seventh grade at Kentville Middle School, makes instant connections in class and at Kangaroos soccer tryouts. She meets requisite bully Mirabelle at the latter, then goes on to be elected team co-captain. After a disastrous start to the season, she helps her team’s members and even the less-than-rigorous coach land on the same winning page. Following a sleepover, a dance, team-building drills and exercises, pep rallies, minor problem-solving and motivational strategizing, Devin prods the Kangaroos into position to beat the haughty Pinewood Panthers in a climactic rematch while also schooling Mirabelle, who has jumped ship to join the rival team.
Wholesome? Yes. Proper hard work and teamwork values in place? Yes. Paint by numbers? Oh, yes. (soccer glossary) (Fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: May 7, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4424-8570-9
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
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