An entertaining tale about taking on fresh responsibilities and achieving a new status.
A lacewing whose family wrangles aphids hopes she can earn her lasso in this chapter book for children ages 7 to 10.
Young Libby Lacewing loves her life in Farmer Owens’ apple orchard, where her family’s job is to herd destructive aphids into the Wild, which is the forest to the west. All winter, Libby has hoped for her own lasso in anticipation of spring, but she got only a new pair of leaf boots and a cowboy hat. She’ll have a chance to prove herself as a wrangler, though, when her grandfather asks her to take a leaf of aphids across Sap River. Libby’s cousin Lars predicts disaster, betting she’ll lose every aphid. Her friend Oliver, “a self-proclaimed Junior knight”—in reality, a ladybug from a Midwestern garden’s English rosebush—passes on a prophecy from the lightning bugs: Sap River is cursed, and crossing it means losing something, being immersed in water, and taking a ride on a swamp creature. After getting her five aphids onto a leaf, Libby sets off poling through sticky Sap River but soon runs into trouble, losing her cargo. Vowing to find the insects again, Libby searches with Oliver—and discovers a whole aphid ranch run by ants. With a plan, some luck, and courage, Libby might be able to risk the curse and get all the aphids to the Wild. West (The Monster of Bogbean Swamp, 2018) admits in a coda that lacewings and ladybugs actually eat aphids rather than safely relocating them, but that doesn’t get in the way of this enjoyable coming-of-age tale that cleverly calls on Western tropes. The adventures, rescues, and three-part curse have excitement and unexpected twists, such as an aphid stampede. Oliver is an excellent and doughty companion (“Do not fear,” he reassures Libby when a spider attacks. “I have mastered the art of web fung shu”). Libby’s jeering cousin, meanwhile, makes a good foil as someone to overcome. The vintage-feeling, black-and-white illustrations by Pavlova (The Monster of Bogbean Swamp, 2018, etc.) are dynamic and amusing.
An entertaining tale about taking on fresh responsibilities and achieving a new status.Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-983683-75-6
Page Count: 42
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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