An earnestly optimistic and uplifting fairy tale.
Neftzger (Confessions from a Moving Van, 2012) makes a promising entry into young-adult fantasy with this sincere, whimsical allegory that’s built on the trope of the hero’s quest and explores themes of freedom, creativity and teamwork.
In a country where a sorcerer confuses perceptions so deeply that the people don’t know whether their war against him is even real, young Kelsey, hoping to help her family, begins a journey to find the rumored Orphanage of Miracles. Kelsey purchases a jar of bad memories as a shortcut to building character; a mishap with the jar brings her a silent but wise boy, whom everyone naturally loves, as a traveling companion. A talking leopard they meet in the woods agrees to be their guide to traverse changing lands and evade guardians who seem to block their way. Meanwhile, deep within a forest no one dares enter, the orphanage hoards sparkling, jewellike miracles in a locked garden for the king, while the children in the strange boarding school have lost the ability to even read. Friends Jovan, Maggie and Nicholas spend their days trying to catch miracles in butterfly nets, mine them from underground or create them in a laboratory. They also anxiously cultivate the individual plants they have been assigned, knowing that if a child’s plant dies, he disappears from the orphanage as if he never existed. But they long to solve the mystery of why, despite the elaborate systems the adults have built, they have never seen the discovery of a miracle. The presentation of morality lessons at the story’s end is uncharacteristically heavy-handed but in line with the stylized nature of the story, offering the reader a happy ending in which the seekers are enlightened, the misguided corrected, all wrongs are righted and generosity and wisdom prevail. And although the final message may feel mundane, the road by which Neftzger approaches it is playful and creative.
An earnestly optimistic and uplifting fairy tale.Pub Date: May 28, 2013
ISBN: 978-0984803484
Page Count: 310
Publisher: Fog Ink
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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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