Well before Smith became known for his deft, book club pleasing Number 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, he penned sweet stories of Akimbo, the intrepid, nature-loving African boy. From his father, Akimbo learns to love animals and passes up no opportunity to protect them from poachers and sometimes from each other. In the first adventure, Akimbo learns about poachers who kill elephants for their tusks. In the tradition of the Hardy Boys, he takes matters into his own hands, breaks a few family rules and hunts the poachers himself. In the second story (Akimbo and the Lions, ISBN: 1-58234-686-0), Akimbo’s father is called upon to save livestock from encroaching lions, and a cub is abandoned in the process. While readers will want to know which country Akimbo calls home and will question the stereotyped sex roles, they will cheer for the good-hearted boy as he bravely faces each danger in his quest to protect his beloved animals. (Fiction. 7-11)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 1-58234-686-0
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2005
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Blake’s take on the stages of childhood is entertainingly offbeat but right on target. George and Bella spend many happy days making model airplanes, dusting, and eating ice cream, but it’s no surprise that their baby, Zagazoo, is delivered in a lumpy postal parcel. George and Bella add another activity to their happy days—“throwing [Zagazoo] from one to the other.” One morning, the pretty little baby has become a large baby vulture with terrifying screeches, highly vocal at night. At their wit’s end, they get a reprieve when the vulture turns into a small, unwittingly destructive elephant, but the transformations are not over. Zagazoo is next a mud-loving warthog, a fire-breathing dragon, and so on, until one day he is a young man with perfect manners and a liking for the young Mirabelle. They are united, but George and Bella have transformed into a pair of feather-dropping, eyeglass-wearing, saggy-chinned brown pelicans. The great arc of life, according to Blake, is happiness to horrors to happiness, with a great dose of the unknown to keep everyone guessing. This book is hilarious, and parents and children will be nodding in recognition as Zagazoo grows up and as his parents grow—happier. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-531-30178-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Cuddly illustrations accompany a weak, pointless story of one character’s transition from tough guy to tenderheart. Toestomper and his friends the Rowdy Ruffians, a rough-and-tough band of rodent and reptile characters, like to act “mean, rude, and disgusting.” When Toestomper stumbles upon a bush of caterpillars, he stomps the bush flat, leaving the caterpillars homeless. Toestomper’s change of heart is without logic or motivation; he uncharacteristically offers them water and a soft bed, and adopts them as new friends, to the disgust of his longtime pals. The mixed message of the finale implies that Toestomper and his new pals always cheat at cards in order to beat the Rowdy Ruffians. The mediocre thinking behind the story outweighs any charm found in the illustrations; the contrast between the cozy, pet-like animals and their bullying behavior is funny, but it’s an effect that is wasted here. (Picture book. 3-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-91168-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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