This sci-fi adventure kicks off a relatively promising series.
Some kids on a camping trip venture too close to a fallen meteor and receive an overdose of gamma radiation that turns them into superheroes.
During the two families' camping trip, the kids witness a meteor crash into the ground near their campsite. When the girl and two boys touch the meteor, they fall unconscious and aren’t discovered until morning, when their respective fathers wake up and discover them missing. Intergalactic Affairs (IGA) soldiers respond to their distress call in a black stealth helicopter and transport the kids back to a secret laboratory in the mountains. When the kids revive after a few weeks, they seem to be unchanged—until they miraculously prevent a bus accident on a school field trip. The IGA appears, ready to recruit the kids for future adventures. The solid plot will appeal to both boys and girls, although the plodding text sorely needs editing for basic grammar and punctuation. There are some enticing interactive elements: Readers can "pack" camping items into a car and “drive” a car and a helicopter. The music, narration and text boxes can all be switched on or off, while the navigation is just page-forward or -back. The cartoon-style illustrations suit the superhero plot but are nothing special. The sound effects are well-done, but the voiced narration adds nothing to the story.
This sci-fi adventure kicks off a relatively promising series. (iPad storybook app. 5-8)Pub Date: April 17, 2012
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Adland Apps
Review Posted Online: May 22, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2012
Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25248-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009
SEEN & HEARD
Though told by two outsiders to the culture, this timely and well-crafted story will educate readers on the preciousness of...
An international story tackles a serious global issue with Reynolds’ characteristic visual whimsy.
Gie Gie—aka Princess Gie Gie—lives with her parents in Burkina Faso. In her kingdom under “the African sky, so wild and so close,” she can tame wild dogs with her song and make grass sway, but despite grand attempts, she can neither bring the water closer to home nor make it clean. French words such as “maintenant!” (now!) and “maman” (mother) and local color like the karite tree and shea nuts place the story in a French-speaking African country. Every morning, Gie Gie and her mother perch rings of cloth and large clay pots on their heads and walk miles to the nearest well to fetch murky, brown water. The story is inspired by model Georgie Badiel, who founded the Georgie Badiel Foundation to make clean water accessible to West Africans. The details in Reynolds’ expressive illustrations highlight the beauty of the West African landscape and of Princess Gie Gie, with her cornrowed and beaded hair, but will also help readers understand that everyone needs clean water—from the children of Burkina Faso to the children of Flint, Michigan.
Though told by two outsiders to the culture, this timely and well-crafted story will educate readers on the preciousness of potable water. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-17258-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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