Prehistoric? More like pre-hysterical.
If you think children’s books set in prehistory are all about the boys, Oona Oodlethunk’s got your number.
Meet the Oodlethunks. If the Flintstones were creatures of the early 1960s, then the Oodlethunks are their hipster millennial cousins. Mom’s an on-the-go ad exec (her latest campaign: “It’s not just a wheel”); Dad sells new recipes at the farmers market; little brother Bonk lives up to his name; and Oona just wants a pet her brother won’t be allergic to. When she finds a gigantic abandoned egg, she thinks her prayers have been answered. Maybe it’s a dud or contains a predator, but maybe it’ll hatch into Something Cute. No matter what, Oona will do anything to protect it. She’ll even conquer her greatest fear after the yet-unhatched Eggy disappears from Oona’s home in broad daylight. Adults who bristle at the questionable chronology (prehistoric rope bridges and dino encounters?) are invited to take a chill pill. After all, the plot and central mystery surrounding Eggy’s disappearance are cleverly done, and facts about the flora and fauna surrounding West Woggle, the topography of Denver (which will eventually replace West Woggle), and even the state fossil of Colorado crop up in unexpected places. Animation artist Wu’s expressive drawings neatly bring this new modern Stone Age family’s antics to life.
Prehistoric? More like pre-hysterical. (Fantasy. 6-10)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-73279-6
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
An adventure-filled tale set within a fascinating period of history.
Historical fiction for dog lovers.
Nome, Alaska, 1900, is a hotbed of lawless gold-rush fever and no place for an unaccompanied woman and her 11-year-old daughter, but that is exactly where Sally and her mother find themselves. The story is told from the point of view of Murphy, an abused sled dog who runs away from his owner in Nome and wanders homeless and hungry until Sally, newly arrived from Seattle, encounters him and convinces Mama that Murphy would be good protection for them. Murphy happily settles into his new life as a loved member of the family, and he does his best to protect them, but he is plagued by thoughts of cowardice brought on by his previous owner’s mistreatment. As summer ends, Mama makes plans to leave, finding life in Nome too difficult. But Sally has plans of her own. Taking Murphy, she runs away to find gold, thinking to ease the working grind of her Mama’s life. Readers will feel the thrill of survival on the tundra as Murphy saves Sally from a grizzly, an avalanche and unscrupulous men. Equal parts heart-wrenching and -warming, the story never slides into cloying sentimentality, and its message of the value of love over greed is as subtle as it is powerful.
An adventure-filled tale set within a fascinating period of history. (historical note, bibliography, further reading) (Historical fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-56145-769-4
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Rockliff and Bruno’s playful approach buoys solid science and history.
Ben Franklin’s several years in France during the American Revolution included an occasion on which he consulted on a scientific matter for the French king.
Louis XVI commissioned a study when he became concerned about the number of complaints he was hearing from French doctors about a German—Dr. Franz Mesmer—who seemed to wield a powerful, mysterious method of healing. Among the scientists and doctors asked to report was the American emissary Benjamin Franklin. In Rockliff’s account, Franklin observes Mesmer’s colleague, Charles D’Eslon, at work, then tinkers with Mesmer’s “animal magnetism” technique by blindfolding and misdirecting D’Eslon’s subjects. Franklin’s hypothesis—that results were accounted for by the subject’s imagination and not an external force—is quickly proved. Text displayed in ribbons, a couple of late-18th-century typefaces and other flourishes create a sense of time and place. The endpapers are brightly hypnotic. Bruno’s digitally colored pencil art lightly evokes period caricature and gently pokes fun at the ornate clothing and hair of French nobility. The tale is nicely pitched to emphasize the importance of a hypothesis, testing and verification, and several inset text boxes are used to explain these scientific tools. Rockliff points out that Franklin’s blind-test technique is in use today for medical treatments, and both the placebo effect and hypnosis are studied today.
Rockliff and Bruno’s playful approach buoys solid science and history. (author’s note, sources) (Nonfiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6351-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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