Sure to resonate with anyone who’s felt like the odd one out.
This first of a new series, translated from Swedish, follows the trials and tribulations of a black sheep in a family of thieves.
Meet the Pinchers: parents Rob and Nic (get it?), little Criminellen (Ellen for short), Grandma Stola, and dog Sherlock. Ellen and Sherlock’s thievery is food motivated; Nic and Stola go for what glitters; Rob targets safes. The family oddity is young Theo. Not only does he eschew theft, but he secretly aspires to be a police officer like Paul Eessman, the kindly, well-intentioned, but gullible cop who lives next door, the family’s foil. The Pincher clan keeps in practice by swiping Theo’s socks each day and by diligently lying (with fingers crossed behind their backs). To his parents’ dismay, Theo can’t help but tell the truth. The Pinchers’ thievery quickly escalates from lifting Paul’s morning newspaper to breaking out of jail, drugging guards, and attempting to steal a famed diamond—to Theo’s dismay. Luckily, the boy finds a way to put things right…and earn his family’s admiration. Droll line drawings dominated by shades of blue and gray enhance the farcical fun; the Pinchers are conveniently decked out in horizontal stripes, and everyone, even the dog (who resembles a pit bull), wears eye masks. Most characters are light-skinned. There are a few easter eggs for adult readers, who will recognize that Ellen’s favorite bedtime story is Crime and Punishment.
Sure to resonate with anyone who’s felt like the odd one out. (Chapter book. 6-10)Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781776575664
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Gecko Press
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A brisk if bland offering for series fans, but cleverer metafictive romps abound.
The titular cookie runs off the page at a bookstore storytime, pursued by young listeners and literary characters.
Following on 13 previous How To Catch… escapades, Wallace supplies sometimes-tortured doggerel and Elkerton, a set of helter-skelter cartoon scenes. Here the insouciant narrator scampers through aisles, avoiding a series of elaborate snares set by the racially diverse young storytime audience with help from some classic figures: “Alice and her mad-hat friends, / as a gift for my unbirthday, / helped guide me through the walls of shelves— / now I’m bound to find my way.” The literary helpers don’t look like their conventional or Disney counterparts in the illustrations, but all are clearly identified by at least a broad hint or visual cue, like the unnamed “wizard” who swoops in on a broom to knock over a tower labeled “Frogwarts.” Along with playing a bit fast and loose with details (“Perhaps the boy with the magic beans / saved me with his cow…”) the author discards his original’s lip-smacking climax to have the errant snack circling back at last to his book for a comfier sort of happily-ever-after.
A brisk if bland offering for series fans, but cleverer metafictive romps abound. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-0935-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Charming.
An assortment of unusual characters form friendships and help each other become their best selves.
Mr. and Mrs. Tupper, who live at Number 3 Ramshorn Drive, are antiquarians. Their daughter, Jillian, loves and cares for a plant named Ivy, who has “three speckles on each leaf and three letters in her name.” Toasty, the grumpy goldfish, lives in an octagonal tank and wishes he were Jillian’s favorite; when Arthur the spider arrives inside an antique desk, he brings wisdom and insight. Ollie the violet plant, Louise the bee, and Sunny the canary each arrive with their own quirks and problems to solve. Each character has a distinct personality and perspective; sometimes they clash, but more often they learn to empathize, see each other’s points of view, and work to help one another. They also help the Tupper family with bills and a burglar. The Fan brothers’ soft-edged, old-fashioned, black-and-white illustrations depict Toasty and Arthur with tiny hats; Ivy and Ollie have facial expressions on their plant pots. The Tuppers have paper-white skin and dark hair. The story comes together like a recipe: Simple ingredients combine, transform, and rise into something wonderful. In its matter-of-fact wisdom, rich vocabulary (often defined within the text), hint of magic, and empathetic nonhuman characters who solve problems in creative ways, this delightful work is reminiscent of Ferris by Kate DiCamillo, Our Friend Hedgehog by Lauren Castillo, and Ivy Lost and Found by Cynthia Lord and Stephanie Graegin.
Charming. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781665942485
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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