A buggy blast; readers will be happy with the clear signs that that the twins’ career as experimental subjects is far from...
A spray of strange fluid gives 8-year-old twins Josh and Danny both six extra legs and a quick trip down the bathtub drain in this icky but informative series opener.
Shortly after chasing their dog Piddle into witchy next-door neighbor Petty Potts’ hidden science lab, bug-loving Josh and his violently phobic brother Danny find themselves transformed into spiders. Their stereotypically spider-fearing older sister immediately sends them hurtling through the household plumbing down to the storm drains, where friendly rats Scratch and Sniff are already waiting to ferry them back outside, explaining that the effect is caused by Potts’ S.W.I.T.C.H. (“Serum Which Instigates Total Cellular Hijack”). Happily, there’s an antidote—which Petty Potts herself applies after saving the twins from a hungry toad with a quick stomp of her boot. Sparkes layers her lickety-split tale between a fact file about the twins and a helpful closing list of multimedia nonfiction resources for fans of all things creepy-crawly. Simultaneously publishing sequels include Fly Frenzy, Grasshopper Glitch, Ant Attack, Crane Fly Crash and Beetle Blast.
A buggy blast; readers will be happy with the clear signs that that the twins’ career as experimental subjects is far from over. (line drawings, glossary) (Fantasy. 7-9)Pub Date: May 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4677-0710-7
Page Count: 104
Publisher: Darby Creek
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
There are more than 150 kinds of ducks, divided into two types: diving ducks and dabbling ducks. Gibbons briefly describes and illustrates both kinds, then presents the lifecycle of the familiar mallard dabbling duck in greater detail. She explains the different ways of migration, the return to build nests, lay and incubate eggs, and hatch ducklings, which then grow to repeat the cycle. The last section discusses domesticated ducks and makes a case for protecting those in the wild. Gibbons provides detailed watercolors on every page with handsome portraits of many different ducks, labeled for identification of parts as well as types. The main text is placed on white space at the bottom, leaving room for the lovely drawings. While each picture does not fill the page, Gibbons's trademark pieces break through the borders and extend the scenes. One quibble: the duckling emerging from the egg appears to be fluffy and dry, while in reality a newly emerged duckling is slippery wet. A final page concludes with additional interesting facts about ducks. Young readers will enjoy this appealing introduction to the familiar waterfowl by the prolific science writer who has provided so many outstanding science titles. (Nonfiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 15, 2001
ISBN: 0-8234-1567-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2001
A knee-slapper for recent early-reader grads who like their metafiction on the droll side.
Two cutesy-poo picture-book characters seek (and find) a way to toughen up their images.
Chafing at the roles forced on them in previous bestsellers with titles like Tiger and Bear Are Cute and Tiger and Bear Are Wholesome, Knuckle Tiggerelli and Potty Polarberg seek help to escape their upcoming outing, Tiger and Bear Go to Happy World. Appeals to their author (who turns out to be not the TV celebrity named on their title pages, but a ghost writer named Gregory) and illustrator get only hostile responses. Knuckle and Potty (respectively, small pink and green outline figures with oversized eyes and lashes) arm themselves with erasers and mount a direct assault on Happy World’s trees and flowers. Alas, these turn out to be less defenseless than their sappy smiles imply. Proimos cranks up the general air of chaos by mixing narrative text with loosely drawn framed and unframed cartoon scenes and trots in other stars of page and screen. Such lights as Winkie the Pug and the rhyme-spouting Chicken in the Beret lend aid and advice.
A knee-slapper for recent early-reader grads who like their metafiction on the droll side. (Graphic fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: May 22, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8050-9155-7
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Feb. 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2012
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