by Alastair Reid & illustrated by Bob Gill ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 2010
A 1960 text from Reid is paired to all-new illustrations from Gill that realize one child’s beguiling hypotheses. “Supposing / I taught my dog how to read...” Beneath this intriguing opening, a floppy-eared dog holds a book in its mouth, waiting. “Supposing / I looked in the mirror one day and saw someone who wasn’t me at all and I said, Who are you? and he said, Mr. Endicott...” Readers see the child from the rear looking into the mirror, out of which is reflected an adult man wearing a fedora. And so it goes, supposition after childlike supposition, against scribbly, mostly black-and-white drawings with just a few strategic touches of color. The sophisticated minimalism of the illustrations at their best work with the text to prompt wild flights of fancy; at worst, they are simply thought-provoking. As fascination with cause and effect is a classic phase of childhood, this book would seem to have a natural place in both bedrooms and classrooms; though the flat, mannered cartoons may be initially off-putting to kids, the concept will beguile them. (Picture book. 4 & up)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59017-369-5
Page Count: 56
Publisher: New York Review Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 25, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2010
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by Alastair Reid ; illustrated by JooHee Yoon
by Rick Riordan ; illustrated by John Rocco ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 19, 2014
The inevitable go-to for Percy’s legions of fans who want the stories behind his stories.
Percy Jackson takes a break from adventuring to serve up the Greek gods like flapjacks at a church breakfast.
Percy is on form as he debriefs readers concerning Chaos, Gaea, Ouranos and Pontus, Dionysus, Ariadne and Persephone, all in his dude’s patter: “He’d forgotten how beautiful Gaea could be when she wasn’t all yelling up in his face.” Here they are, all 12 Olympians, plus many various offspring and associates: the gold standard of dysfunctional families, whom Percy plays like a lute, sometimes lyrically, sometimes with a more sardonic air. Percy’s gift, which is no great secret, is to breathe new life into the gods. Closest attention is paid to the Olympians, but Riordan has a sure touch when it comes to fitting much into a small space—as does Rocco’s artwork, which smokes and writhes on the page as if hit by lightning—so readers will also meet Makaria, “goddess of blessed peaceful deaths,” and the Theban Teiresias, who accidentally sees Athena bathing. She blinds him but also gives him the ability to understand the language of birds. The atmosphere crackles and then dissolves, again and again: “He could even send the Furies after living people if they committed a truly horrific crime—like killing a family member, desecrating a temple, or singing Journey songs on karaoke night.”
The inevitable go-to for Percy’s legions of fans who want the stories behind his stories. (Mythology. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 19, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-8364-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
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by Rick Riordan
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by Rick Riordan & Mark Oshiro
BOOK REVIEW
by Rick Riordan ; adapted by Ethan Young ; illustrated by Ethan Young ; color by George C. Williams
by Megan McDonald & illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 13, 2012
This story covers the few days preceding the much-anticipated Midnight Zombie Walk, when Stink and company will take to the...
An all-zombie-all-the-time zombiefest, featuring a bunch of grade-school kids, including protagonist Stink and his happy comrades.
This story covers the few days preceding the much-anticipated Midnight Zombie Walk, when Stink and company will take to the streets in the time-honored stiff-armed, stiff-legged fashion. McDonald signals her intent on page one: “Stink and Webster were playing Attack of the Knitting Needle Zombies when Fred Zombie’s eye fell off and rolled across the floor.” The farce is as broad as the Atlantic, with enough spookiness just below the surface to provide the all-important shivers. Accompanied by Reynolds’ drawings—dozens of scene-setting gems with good, creepy living dead—McDonald shapes chapters around zombie motifs: making zombie costumes, eating zombie fare at school, reading zombie books each other to reach the one-million-minutes-of-reading challenge. When the zombie walk happens, it delivers solid zombie awfulness. McDonald’s feel-good tone is deeply encouraging for readers to get up and do this for themselves because it looks like so much darned fun, while the sub-message—that reading grows “strong hearts and minds,” as well as teeth and bones—is enough of a vital interest to the story line to be taken at face value.Pub Date: March 13, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5692-8
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
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More In The Series
by Megan McDonald ; illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds
by Megan McDonald & illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds
More by Megan McDonald
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by Megan McDonald ; illustrated by Scott Nash
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by Megan McDonald ; illustrated by Katherine Tillotson
BOOK REVIEW
by Megan McDonald ; illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds
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