A surprisingly deep story about freedom and rebellion wrapped in a cuddly adventure featuring space creatures, this episodic app so far is on the right track.
Judging from the first four volumes of this monthly series (there are 10 chapters planned), the tale of Plug—an overgrown red furball—and his friends is rewarding. Beginning in the Plex, which appears to be a sterile space station that houses kids called Paddywhacks, it quickly shifts in the second chapter into an adventure in the wilderness. Plug and his friends, who have been groomed to leave the Plex when they reach a certain age, discover that their home is more prison than haven and that an old man named Mosely who helped them escape has the answers to their history and a bold plan to free others like them. It's heady stuff in a story that at first seems too simplistic to be taken very seriously. The app stands out in several ways; pages can be scrolled each way horizontally, creating the feel of a larger canvas than what the screen can contain. Plug's multi-hued friends are distinct enough to warrant a set of bios included in the app, fleshing out each of their interests and back stories. And all the dialogue and text is conveyed in colored word balloons that stay out of the way of the detailed, exuberant artwork until pressed. When the origin of the Paddywhacks and the reason they're in the Plex is revealed, it's much more poignant and dark than readers may expect. It's a credit to the developers that they're not afraid to paint in bold strokes, aiming for an epic story with lots of characters and big themes. It helps, too, that the app has great sound effects and music, including songs inspired by each chapter that can be downloaded through iTunes. Especially for an app aimed at young readers, it's a pleasant surprise that its subtext of loss and redemption is so resonant. So what if it's wrapped in an accessible, candy-colored package? (iPad storybook app. 4-12)
Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2011
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Scholar & Saint
Review Posted Online: Dec. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2012
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25248-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009
SEEN & HEARD
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