A great choice for logophiles and budding authors.
A magic spelling book turns a young girl’s world upside down as her family prepares for the arrival of a new baby brother.
Polly Diamond is an aspiring writer and loves words—all kinds of words! But she especially loves the words in a new spelling book left mysteriously on her doorstep, because when she writes in the book, the book writes back. After writing a few lists and stories in the book, Polly soon realizes that the book’s magic also has the power to make her words come true. She wants to show her amazing new book to her family, but Mom and Dad are busy with work and preparing the house for the new baby, including moving Polly’s 3-year-old sister into Polly’s room. When Polly tries to use the spelling book to improve things (turning her house into an enormous mansion and turning her sister into a banana), she soon discovers that the words she loves don’t always mean what she wants them to. Kuipers spins an enchanting adventure of magic and mishaps as Polly tries to master the art of wishes and to balance her talent for stories with her need to be literal. Toledano’s spot illustrations provide visual depth and a dynamic dimension of representation to Polly’s multiracial family (Dad is white and Mom is a woman of color) and world.
A great choice for logophiles and budding authors. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4521-5232-5
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
Clever, but the sophisticated humor seems aimed at older readers and adults.
Sometimes relatives are so weird that they seem to be from outer space. This one just happens to be from Mars.
When Teddy’s mother mentions Cousin Irv is coming for a visit, all he knows is that he lives on another planet. Irv lands and proves to be a bit difficult. He blames Teddy’s mother for giving “the worst directions,” eats everything in the kitchen—“in fact, he ate the whole kitchen”—keeps Teddy up at night with his loud breathing and listens “to the most horrible music.” Kaplan (Monsters Eat Whiny Children, 2010), a veteran cartoonist for the New Yorker and television writer (Girls, Seinfeld), pairs the wry text with spare illustrations executed in pen and ink with watercolor. Things take a turn when Cousin Irv takes Teddy to school. Irv finds out Teddy has no friends and decides to do something about it. The duo causes a stir at school, especially when Irv pulls out “his electromagnetic ray and vaporized a few things in the classroom.” The teacher bans the ray gun but as a result is vaporized as well. This spread is alarmingly effective: One side shows a close-up of a blue gun producing green rays, and the other is mostly blank except for a lonely pair of gray heels and pink streaks highlighting where the teacher once was. Soon Teddy finds more to appreciate in his eccentric relative, but then Irv returns to Mars, leaving Teddy quite lonely…until his dad has a change in work assignments.
Clever, but the sophisticated humor seems aimed at older readers and adults. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 4, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4424-4923-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
This one may be too stuck on the arc of the original tale to come alive in its own right. (Picture book. 5-7)
An extremely odd variant on "The Three Little Pigs."
It's time for Bork (two eyes, the sister), Gork (the one-eyed brother) and Nklxwcyz (three eyes, like their mom) to go out into the universe to find their own planets. Mom tells them to stick together and watch out for the Big Bad Robot. Bork chooses the red planet, and Gork is enchanted by the golden rings of another, but Nklxwcyz chooses Neptune and builds his house of space stuff and space junk. When the Big Bad Robot smashes Bork’s and Gork’s homes, they flee to Nklxwcyz, whose house is so strong that the Robot gets stuck in the telescope/chimney and explodes. The three children call mom, as exhorted, and she comes to tuck all three into bed. The green-skinned, red-haired or bald little aliens careen around the starry black universe with jetpacks and clear, round headgear, and there is some faint echo of charm in “ ‘Little alien! Little alien!’ it broinked. ‘COME OUT OF HIDING!’ / ‘Not by the orbit of this ring I’m riding!’ ” (The classic dialogue varies slightly from sibling to sibling.) It fails the logic test, though: The Big Bad Robot is fearsome, but there really doesn't seem to be a good reason for him to go after these kids.
This one may be too stuck on the arc of the original tale to come alive in its own right. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-375-86689-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2011
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
