A creative short tale that’s likely to entertain young readers.
A young boy goes on a fantastic imaginary adventure while his mother has a baby in this debut short children’s story by 9-year-old Najjar-Khatirkolaei.
Six-year-old Alexyfido is confused when his parents go to the hospital and leave him with his neighbor and friend Philip. When they return home with a baby, Alexyfido is thrilled that they get to keep his new brother. Three years later, Philip and Alexyfido must defend their beloved brothers against a villainous police officer, Zut, who’s determined to arrest all younger siblings. With the help of a coerced scientist named Cronitusse, Zut gains control of a teleportation machine and captures the town’s small children. With the police unable to stop Zut, it falls to Philip and Alexyfido to get their brothers back. After Philip falls during one of Zut’s challenges, Alexyfido continues on his own and eventually fights a mechanical dragon and Zut himself. As the story concludes, the author reveals that the entire tale has been a story told by Philip’s mother to keep the boys entertained while Alexyfido’s mother gives birth elsewhere. Alexyfido, a likeable protagonist with a clear sense of right and wrong, handles the challenges set before him with cleverness and bravery. The story also offers insight into its child protagonist’s simple worldview: “His mother explained that she went to the hospital because she was going to have a baby, and she wanted to surprise him. Alexyfido then understood why his mother had a big belly.” The challenges themselves are imaginative and include riddles and physically daunting tasks. Zut, driven by his jealousy of a brother decades younger than he is, never develops beyond a two-dimensional villain, but this is unsurprising in a story intended as a quirky adventure tale, and his eventual defeat is appropriate, if perhaps a little violent for young readers. Najjar-Khatirkolaei writes beyond his age, but still has plenty of room to grow as a writer.
A creative short tale that’s likely to entertain young readers.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2013
ISBN: 978-1490713588
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Trafford
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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