The believable plot and inherent suspense will keep readers turning the pages of this fine addition to early chapter books,...
With a limited vocabulary perfect for readers just edging into chapter books, the tale of Logan’s efforts to locate his lost dog rings completely true.
After Logan’s parents separate, he and his mother and Border collie, Bear, head for a new home in the suburbs, but Bear gets lost. Shortly afterward, Hannah’s father finds the missing pet in the back of his truck. Hannah is desperate for a pet, but her parents decide to leave the dog at the Rainbow Street Shelter (the name of this new series) to give him his best chance for return to his owners. There Hannah begins volunteering with the animals, recognizing their need for affection. Logan, miserable over leaving his family’s farm and his parents’ break-up, is devastated by the loss of his beloved dog. As his parents try to track down Bear and Hannah’s parents recognize her growing level of responsibility, glimmers of hope appear for both children. While the very brief text, accompanied by frequent attractive black-and-white illustrations, doesn’t give room for extensive character development, the essentials are effectively captured.
The believable plot and inherent suspense will keep readers turning the pages of this fine addition to early chapter books, which will resonate with both pet lovers and children involved in divorces. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8050-8931-8
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading.
When Franklin School principal Mr. Boone announces a pet-show fundraiser, white third-grader Cody—whose lack of skill and interest in academics is matched by keen enthusiasm for and knowledge of animals—discovers his time to shine.
As with other books in this series, the children and adults are believable and well-rounded. Even the dialogue is natural—no small feat for a text easily accessible to intermediate readers. Character growth occurs, organically and believably. Students occasionally, humorously, show annoyance with teachers: “He made mad squinty eyes at Mrs. Molina, which fortunately she didn’t see.” Readers will be kept entertained by Cody’s various problems and the eventual solutions. His problems include needing to raise $10 to enter one of his nine pets in the show (he really wants to enter all of them), his troublesome dog Angus—“a dog who ate homework—actually, who ate everything and then threw up afterward”—struggles with homework, and grappling with his best friend’s apparently uncaring behavior toward a squirrel. Serious values and issues are explored with a light touch. The cheery pencil illustrations show the school’s racially diverse population as well as the memorable image of Mr. Boone wearing an elephant costume. A minor oddity: why does a child so immersed in animal facts call his male chicken a rooster but his female chickens chickens?
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: June 14, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-374-30223-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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