Possessing an earnest ridiculousness similar to that of a Dahl story, Freddie’s adventure should appeal to a similar...
A boy is tossed from the frying pan into the lion’s cage.
Freddie Mole, a “kind boy” who “lived quite a few years ago,” wants to get a job to help his impoverished family. Fortunately for the well-liked Freddie, his pals often treat him on outings, so when a friend invites him to the circus, Freddie can’t resist. To his surprise and delight, the circus needs a new assistant, and he’s hired on the spot. At the end of his first day, after Freddie’s swept the big top and helped the cook with the washing up, the ringmaster belatedly informs Freddie that he’s also the circus’ sole understudy. First he learns the trapeze, which is scary enough but made scarier when the hilariously incompetent aerialists almost forget the net. However, Freddie does such a wonderful job, he’s assigned to understudy the lion tamer (this was back “when circuses still had lions”). When the tamer runs off to Peru “or somewhere like that,” it’s up to Freddie to save the show. Will he succeed? Or will the ferocious beasts be his end? The unidentified narrator’s direct address forges an emotional connection between readers and Freddie. Cozy Briticisms and the curly black-and-white line art reinforce the story’s “once upon a time” feel. The cast is evidently all white.
Possessing an earnest ridiculousness similar to that of a Dahl story, Freddie’s adventure should appeal to a similar audience. (Humor. 7-12)Pub Date: July 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-1377-5
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A likable hero and a neatly plotted mystery.
A boy in search of roots solves his first mystery.
Simon Hyde, 11 ½, worries that the burglary at the Tangerine Pines apartments will result in his parents’ quickly moving from the new home that he’d hoped might be permanent. Including the most recent one, where he broke his leg in a fall from a tree, Simon lived in 27 different places before arriving in Rigsby. His parents, both digital nomads, make a living from remote work and their popular The Hydes Go Seek social media account, which details their itinerant lifestyle. Simon feels they’ve been “adrift like a clump of dandelion seeds.” He’s kept a rock collection—“one small piece of every place we’ve ever lived”—but he longs for more lasting connections. When a priceless necklace goes missing, Simon, who reads white, tries to identify the thief with the help of ebullient new friend Amaya Sharma, who’s also 11. Another neighbor, retired detective Mrs. Kobayashi, offers him tips, notably, “Be patient and allow yourself to observe.” This advice turns out to be a great strategy for getting to know new friends and neighbors, including Calvin Morris, a Black boy around his age. McDunn’s characters are nicely realized, and the mystery is satisfyingly resolved.
A likable hero and a neatly plotted mystery. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781547611003
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
A gentle, mind-expanding, and thoroughly lovely experience.
A young visitor to a sculptor’s studio is amazed and impressed as he views the artist at work, asking, “How do you do that?”
The visitor, an older elementary-age kid or maybe a young teen, acknowledges wishing to create something like the art on view, but self-doubt at ever being able to produce such beauty prevents the kid from beginning. What follows is an ongoing, almost Socratic discussion between the visitor and the sculptor. The sculptor exhorts the visitor to try, to make an attempt, and encourages, advises, and pushes his interlocutor to learn from failures and disappointments. As the sculptor does so, he is not loath to shares his own vulnerabilities and haunting thoughts of his mortality. Gradually the visitor becomes a protégé, trying and trying again. As in previous works such as What Do You Do With a Problem? (illustrated by Mae Besom, 2016), Yamada deals with both philosophical and practical questions, maintaining a grounded, direct tone without ever becoming preachy or too highly esoteric. The aspiring artist narrates in the first person from a distance of several years, treasuring the memory of the sculptor’s words, only to be interrupted at the end of the book by a new voice from a new visitor, echoing that first question. Hurst’s black, gray, and white drawings are heavily shaded, imparting a mysterious and ethereal quality. There are fleeting bits of color in the form of an orange studio cat and the sculptor’s green-tinged failures. The characters present White. Young readers and their grown-ups will find much to absorb and discuss.
A gentle, mind-expanding, and thoroughly lovely experience. (Picture book. 7-12)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-970147-28-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
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