Despite starting slowly, this dream-world fantasy encourages readers to exercise critical and creative thinking.
A kidnapped boy and girl discover that their dreams contain clues for an escape plan.
This middle-grade fantasy sequel about a young boy named Sandy, who visits a “dream space” called the Knight School, contains a worthwhile message. Dreams and even nightmares can be a conduit to problem-solving. But readers may wonder what the book’s title has to do with the story’s beginning. Over several expository pages, Randall introduces Sandy’s pooch, Mr. Tweed, describing the canine’s background and idiosyncrasies. As a dog story, it is well written and entertaining. As a stage-setter for what turns out to be Mr. Tweed’s involvement in later events, it is too lengthy a prelude to an adventure that doesn’t begin in earnest until Chapter 5, when Sandy is captured by a pair of bungling kidnappers. This narrative delay also encompasses an introduction to Sandy’s huge, old house in Boston’s Beacon Hill, seemingly meant to establish a mysterious atmosphere. Yet the house is not integral to the plot, and there’s too much information about squirrels (although Sandy’s dream about the animals proves to be significant). But if readers stay with the tale, they’ll find the momentum picks up when Sandy’s dramatic kidnapping leads to his return to the Knight School (introduced in the author’s 2007 series opener, The Dream Wizard Conquers His Knight Mare), where a cadre of sleeping kids meets. There, a benevolent adult named Reed Sundance helps them interpret elements in their dreams that can provide solutions to predicaments in their waking lives. “Dreaming is like a storm in your mind. You can spin up lots of new ways of thinking,” Reed says. When a girl Sandy meets at the Knight School turns out to be a fellow abductee, they mine their dreams for ways to thwart their kidnappers. These are more convenient than credible, but many readers will find value in Randall’s guide to thinking differently about dreams and demystifying nightmares. The text is accompanied by several full-page illustrations pleasantly rendered in pencil by Lovely.
Despite starting slowly, this dream-world fantasy encourages readers to exercise critical and creative thinking.Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-64803-910-2
Page Count: 94
Publisher: Westwood Books Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A pleasing premise for book lovers.
A fantasy-loving bookworm makes a wonderful, terrible bargain.
When sixth grader Poppy Woodlock’s historic preservationist parents move the family to the Oregon coast to work on the titular stately home, Poppy’s sure she’ll find magic. Indeed, the exiled water nymph in the manor’s ruined swimming pool grants a wish, but: “Magic isn’t free. It cosssts.” The price? Poppy’s favorite book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In return she receives Sampson, a winged lion cub who is everything Poppy could have hoped for. But she soon learns that the nymph didn’t take just her own physical book—she erased Narnia from Poppy’s world. And it’s just the first loss: Soon, Poppy’s grandmother’s journal’s gone, then The Odyssey, and more. The loss is heartbreaking, but Sampson’s a wonderful companion, particularly as Poppy’s finding middle school a tough adjustment. Hartman’s premise is beguiling—plenty of readers will identify with Poppy, both as a fellow bibliophile and as a kid struggling to adapt. Poppy’s repeatedly expressed faith that unveiling Sampson will bring some sort of vindication wears thin, but that does not detract from the central drama. It’s a pity that the named real-world books Poppy reads are notably lacking in diversity; a story about the power of literature so limited in imagination lets both itself and readers down. Main characters are cued White; there is racial diversity in the supporting cast. Chapters open with atmospheric spot art. (This review has been updated to reflect the final illustrations.)
A pleasing premise for book lovers. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780316448222
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
Quirky and imaginative—postmodern storytelling at its best.
Friendly curiosity and a gift for naming earn a polar bear an assortment of (mostly animal) friends, adventures, mishaps, and discoveries.
Arriving at a northern ocean, Duane spies a shipwreck. Swimming out to investigate, he meets its lone occupant, C.C., a learned snowy owl whose noble goal is acquiring knowledge to apply “toward the benefit of all.” Informing Duane that he’s a polar bear, she points out a nearby cave that might suit him—it even has a mattress. Adding furnishings from the wreck—the grandfather clock’s handless, but who needs to tell time when it’s always now?—he meets a self-involved musk ox, entranced by his own reflection, who’s delighted when Duane names him “Handsome.” As he comes to understand, then appreciate their considerable diversity, Duane brings out the best in his new friends. C.C., who has difficulty reading emotions and dislikes being touched, evokes the autism spectrum. Magic, a bouncy, impulsive arctic fox, manifests ADHD. Major Puff, whose proud puffin ancestry involves courageous retreats from danger, finds a perfect companion in Twitch, a risk-aware, common-sensical hare. As illustrated, Sun Girl, a human child, appears vaguely Native, and Squint, a painter, white, but they’re sui generis: The Canadian author avoids referencing human culture. The art conveys warmth in an icy setting; animal characters suggest beloved stuffed toys, gently reinforcing the message that friendship founded on tolerance breeds comfort and safety.
Quirky and imaginative—postmodern storytelling at its best. (Animal fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3341-0
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
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