Eric Andrick’s Christmas visitor is anything but a warm and fuzzy bringer of holiday joys, in this suspenseful but heavy-handed allegory by a gifted writer. Four days before Christmas, Eric is home alone in the Eden Apartments, terribly bored, and waiting for the exterminator. Enter Anjela Gabrail, white-haired, black-clad, wearing a winged-skull logo, an exterminator who loves to kill and especially loves to kill rats. He enlists Eric in a strange and solemn compact, to kill rats or pay the (unspecified) penalty. In the next few days, as the outdoors cold deepens to mirror the chill of the Eden basement—described as a place that is “like going down into the land of the dead”—Eric and the mysterious Anje move from allies to opponents in a steadily more menacing game whose eventual stated purpose is the life or death of a common street rat. Although the nature of Anje’s hold on Eric is never made clear, Eric’s steadily growing fear is almost palpable, and readers will be relieved when he wins the deadly game with nothing worse than a bleeding scratch to remind him that killing is not a thing to do out of boredom. The allegory is hammered in, but the building of tension is very skillfully done, and readers who enjoy horror and suspense will enjoy the descriptions of the ambiguous Anje and his deadly serious game. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-689-83842-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Richard Jackson/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A young bear cub, Bertie, decides he wants to stay up for Christmas when his non-hibernating friends regale him with tales of snow, honey cakes, and a white-bearded man with gifts. After devising a plan in which he attempts to sleep as much as possible prior to the change of seasons (much to his unsuspecting mother’s bafflement) and with the aid of Mrs. Bear’s alarm clock, Bertie finds himself awakened in the midst of winter. After a sudden snow squall causes him to lose his way in the forest, Bertie is rescued and returned home by a kindly old man in a sled. Bertie reluctantly acknowledges that all bears must hibernate in winter, and Santa promises that he will stop by the bear household next year. Landa and Scharff-Kniemeyer depict a child’s sense of discovery through Bertie, who dances among the snowflakes and slowly realizes that he is riding with Santa himself. The colorful illustrations feature a winsome blend of tenderness, humor, and keen appreciation for a child’s boundless curiosity. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 1-888444-60-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999
paper 0-440-41499-7 When Mike learns that he will be spending Easter at his grandmother’s house on Staten Island, he worries that the Easter Bunny will be unable to locate him and deliver goodies. A well-planned story line weaves together several humorous episodes: an attempt to find E.B. Rabbit’s telephone number in the local directory, the creation of a detailed geographic map and colorful signs, plus a heartfelt letter that includes vital information like the color of his grandmother’s front door. Weston’s full-color illustrations capture Mike’s fears, doubts, determination, and final joy; Winters’s book comforts children and reminds them of the power of belief. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 9, 1999
ISBN: 0-385-32596-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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