CHILDREN'S
Released: Feb. 1, 1999
"Rendered with detail and drama reminiscent of Audubon's, Davidson's accomplished black-and-white wildlife portraits ennoble their animal subjects, and effectively capture the dark, tone of this radical change of pace from a popular, author. (Fiction. 11-13)"
Fans of King-Smith's light, wry animal stories (The Spotty Pig, 1997, etc.) will be shocked by this brutal Christian allegory.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Aug. 1, 1996
"In the well-known breezy style readers have come to expect, the author pens with wit and wisdom a sunny story of family and friendship in which good things come to Good people. (Fiction. 7-11)"
King-Smith (see review, above) leaves behind guinea pigs of all manner, pigs who herd sheep, and cats with pets to tell the story of a stray—not a mongrel, but a kindly, 75-year-old woman named Henrietta Hickathrift.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: April 15, 1996
"With Teague's humorous black-and-white illustrations, this is an endearing book from beginning to end, for classroom or family sharing. (Fiction. 7-10)"
In a short, simple chapter book, King-Smith (The School Mouse, 1995, etc.) tells the blissfully silly story of poor Mr. Potter who, after his parents are accidentally poisoned by a dinner of tinned crab on his 50th birthday, gets his first pet.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Oct. 1, 1995
"Fisher's pointed black-and-white illustrations are perfectly pitched to the sharp text. (Fiction. 7-10)"
As usual, King-Smith (Harriet's Hare, 1995, etc.) gives readers a children's book that's everything it should be.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Oct. 3, 1994
"A lively comic adventure. (Fiction. 8-12)"
King-Smith (Sophie in the Saddle, 1994, etc.) parodies human behavior in another of his animal fantasies.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: March 1, 1994
"Does multiculturalism extend only to those who don't share our mother tongue) But even second-best Sophie is better-than-average young reader fare, and Parkins's frequent drawings continue to be witty and precise. (Fiction. 5- 9)"
King-Smith's "determined" Sophie, who first appeared, at four, in Sophie's Snail (1989), has always been a winning character; such vicissitudes as a suburban domicile, obstreperous twin brothers, and her parents' proscriptions against pets (mellowing more with each book) have never diverted her from her goal of becoming a "lady farmer."
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