cover image
LATEST ISSUE OF
Kirkus Reviews
Best-seller Jeannette Walls talks about mining her own history for her new novel, The Silver Star.
Kirkus Star
THE KIRKUS STAR
Awarded to Books of Exceptional Merit

BROWSE BOOK REVIEWS



Small Creatures, Big Adventures (page 2)

Cover art for STONE RABBIT
CHILDREN'S
Released: Jan. 13, 2009
STONE RABBIT: BC MAMBO
by Erik Craddock, illustrated by Erik Craddock
"Best get both. (Graphic fiction. 7-10)"
While flossing, Stone Rabbit discovers a bottomless pit of doom in his bathroom floor—one more reason to hate Mondays. Read full book review >
Cover art for NURK
CHILDREN'S
Released: June 1, 2008
NURK: THE STRANGE, SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF A (SOMEWHAT) BRAVE SHREW
by Ursula Vernon
"Nurk's adventure, and the tone in which it's related, will remind readers of Stuart Little's quest. (Fantasy. 10-12)"
A reclusive young shrew develops a taste for adventure in this short, witty debut. Read full book review >
Cover art for RAT TRAP
CHILDREN'S
Released: May 15, 2008
RAT TRAP
by Michael J. Daley
"While the story is a mite thin on setting and characterization, the fast-paced plot is sure to please fans of computer games and sentient machines and serves to expand the rather skimpy field of middle-grade science-fiction books. (Science fiction. 8-12)"
Everyone on the space station believes Rat was killed in the battle with Nanny, a terrifying robot run amok. Read full book review >
Cover art for URCHIN OF THE RIDING STARS
CHILDREN'S
Released: Aug. 1, 2005
URCHIN OF THE RIDING STARS: THE MISTMANTLE CHRONICLES, BOOK ONE
by M.I. McAllister
"Voracious readers might pick up this series opener, while waiting for something better. (Fantasy. 11-13)"
Evidently hoping to tap into the Redwall audience, McAllister furnishes a cast of squirrels, hedgehogs and other small creatures with an island surrounded by magical mists, a pair of obscure prophecies, a castle atop a nearly forgotten reservoir of Evil and a kindly king who comes under the thumb of a murderous vassal. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE END OF THE BEGINNING
CHILDREN'S
Released: Oct. 1, 2004
THE END OF THE BEGINNING: BEING THE ADVENTURES OF A SMALL SNAIL (AND AN EVEN SMALLER ANT)
by Avi, illustrated by Tricia Tusa
"The compact, simple text is readable in a large font with great spacing; the small trim size and Tusa's graceful, whimsical black-and-white drawings suit the contents perfectly. (Fiction. 4-10)"
Avon, a snail whose reading tastes run to adventure, longs for a real journey of his own. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE LITTLE GENTLEMAN
CHILDREN'S
Released: Sept. 1, 2004
Kirkus Star THE LITTLE GENTLEMAN
by Philippa Pearce, illustrated by Tom Pohrt
"Perfectly unusual, perfectly lovely. (Fiction. 8-12)"
When the invalided Mr. Franklin engages Bet, his housekeeper's young granddaughter, to read aloud to no one in particular in the meadow outside his house, she soon discovers that she is, in fact, reading aloud to a mole—no ordinary mole, but a magicked mole, who has been cursed with eternal life and the capacity for human intelligence and speech. Read full book review >