An agreeably fizzy series opener.
Evil Emperor Nurbison has his eye on the peaceful, neighboring kingdom of Edwinland.
Nine-year-old King Edwin of Edwinland has been put in charge of his pocket money (otherwise known as the royal treasury) by the overworked Minster Jill, who hoped it would teach Edwin responsibility. Every Friday, Edwin has taken his wheelbarrow full of gold pocket money and bought all the chocolates in all the candy shops and distributed them to his peasants using King Edwin’s Nutritious Nibbles Ejector, Thrower, and Hurler, depicted in Seussian fashion with cogs, horns, dials, and cranks aplenty. When the money runs out (really: the enormous piggy bank is totally empty), Emperor Nurbison uses the peasants’ discontent at the cessation of free chocolates and a cunningly disguised cow to take over Edwinland. Can King Edwin, Minister Jill, and Jester Megan come up with a plan to regain Edwin’s throne? Maybe, with a few cunning disguises and a lot of lemonade….British movie and TV scribe Riley’s heavily illustrated, foolish tale of courtly high jinks will please fans of Dragonslayer Academy as well as Big Nate readers looking for something hysterical—er—historical. Stakes are never high; Nurbison is more foolish than fearsome. And Edwin’s sweetly cheeky charm will lead those comfortable with chapters to request the obviously planned sequel. Minister Jill is a bespectacled black woman, while the other principals seem to be white.
An agreeably fizzy series opener. (Fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62779-809-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
Dizzyingly silly.
The famous superhero returns to fight another villain with all the trademark wit and humor the series is known for.
Despite the title, Captain Underpants is bizarrely absent from most of this adventure. His school-age companions, George and Harold, maintain most of the spotlight. The creative chums fool around with time travel and several wacky inventions before coming upon the evil Turbo Toilet 2000, making its return for vengeance after sitting out a few of the previous books. When the good Captain shows up to save the day, he brings with him dynamic action and wordplay that meet the series’ standards. The Captain Underpants saga maintains its charm even into this, the 11th volume. The epic is filled to the brim with sight gags, toilet humor, flip-o-ramas and anarchic glee. Holding all this nonsense together is the author’s good-natured sense of harmless fun. The humor is never gross or over-the-top, just loud and innocuous. Adults may roll their eyes here and there, but youngsters will eat this up just as quickly as they devoured every other Underpants episode.
Dizzyingly silly. (Humor. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-50490-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale.
After a tsunami devastates their habitat in the Salish Sea, a young orca and her brother embark on a remarkable adventure.
Vega’s matriarchal family expects her to become a hunter and wayfinder, with her younger brother, Deneb, protecting and supporting her. Invited to guide her family to their Gathering Place to hunt salmon, Vega’s underwater miscalculations endanger them all, and an embarrassed Vega questions whether she should be a wayfinder. When the baby sister she hoped would become her life companion is stillborn, a distraught Vega carries the baby away to a special resting place, shocking her grieving family. Dispatched to find his missing sister, Deneb locates Vega in the midst of a terrible tsunami. To escape the waters polluted by shattered boats, Vega leads Deneb into unfamiliar open sea. Alone and hungry, the young siblings encounter a spectacular giant whale and travel briefly with shark-hunting orcas. Trusting her instincts and gaining emotional strength from contemplating the vastness of the sky, Vega knows she must lead her brother home and help save her surviving family. In alternating first-person voices, Vega and Deneb tell their harrowing story, engaging young readers while educating them about the marine ecosystem. Realistic black-and-white illustrations enhance the maritime setting.
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale. (maps, wildlife facts, tribes of the Salish Sea watershed, environmental and geographical information, how to help orcas, author’s note, artist’s note, resources) (Animal fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-299592-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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