In the first installment of this four book series, Madsen spins a fantastical tale of time travel, talking animals, daring adventures and Pig Latin.
Brother and sister team Jake and Alexa Moustachio band together to unlock the mysteries of a world hidden on the other side the magnifying glass. While rummaging in the attic for signs of their overly particular cat Rex, the children hear a voice calling to them from across the glass. The Bell of Time has been stolen and Delbert, the Keeper of Time, needs their help to find and return the bell to its rightful place in the clock tower at the Museum of Time. Unbeknownst to the Moustachios, they are Angelik Arkeepers of the Universe; they have been chosen to watch over all and protect the secrets of the universe from those who seek to do harm. As Jake and Alexa search the castle for clues, they meet a host of talkative characters, run from ghostly suits of armor and even play an impromptu game of checkers. To tell their story, Madsen often employs Pig Latin in dialogue and chapter titles, which only results in stopping the flow of the narrative. Unlike the nonsense words used for the spells uttered in the hallowed halls of Hogwarts, Pig Latin is decipherable and the frequent need to pause and decode words takes readers out of the story. Moreover, characters pop in and out of the tale at a rapid pace, leaving readers with a disjointed sense of plot and purpose. The book would do well to draw more attention to the moose head, the baron and the dueling bakers in later books in the series. Madsen’s enticing premise would benefit from further characterization and world building as the Moustachio siblings adventure onward into this parallel universe. An imaginative, if uneven, journey for fans of A Series of Unfortunate Events and The Spiderwick Chronicles.
Pub Date: Jan. 26, 2012
ISBN: 978-0983048701
Page Count: 144
Publisher: little m books
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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