Snowy owls, birds of the frozen far north, appear in the lower 48 states only sporadically, in winters when the lemming population has crashed and food is in short supply. Inspired by such a visitation, Hiscock follows an owl through his first year, from egg to hatchling, first flight and migration from the Baffin Island tundra, over the taiga, past Ottawa, to spend the winter on a farm in northern New York before returning to his arctic home. A map of the bird’s imagined journey introduces the narrative, which includes an owl’s growth and development, feeding, natural predators and prey. Detailed watercolors illustrate the varied landscapes, often in sweeping double-page spreads. Although Ookpik (the Inuktitut word for “snowy owl”) is slightly personified for the sake of the story, the narrative generally sticks to the possible facts and an extensive author’s note at the end provides further information. Like his earlier Big Caribou Herd (2003), this conveys the author’s love for that remote part of the world and provides a fine introduction for middle-grade readers. (Nonfiction. 7-10)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-59078-461-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2008
Most children will agree the book is “smafunderful (smart + fun + wonderful).” (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 7-10)
In this entertaining chapter book, the first in a series, readers meet kind Sir Sidney and the gentle performers and hands in his circus. But Sir Sidney is tired and leaves the circus under the management of new-hire Barnabas Brambles for a week.
That Sir Sidney is beloved by all is quickly established, presenting a sharp contrast to the bully Brambles. The scoundrel immediately comes up with a “to do” list that includes selling the animals and eliminating the mice Bert and Gert. (Gert is almost more distressed by Brambles’ ill-fitting suit and vows to tailor it.) Revealed almost entirely through dialogue, the put-upon animals’ solidarity is endearing. The story, like the circus train now driven by the Famous Flying Banana Brothers, takes absurd loops and turns. The art is fully integrated, illustrating the action and supplementing the text with speech bubbles, facsimile letters and posters, Brambles’ profit-and-loss notes, examples of Gert’s invented vocabulary and more. Brambles’ plans go awry, of course, and he gets his comeuppance. With Bert and Gert acting as his conscience, along with a suit from Gert that finally fits and a dose of forgiveness, Brambles makes a turnaround. Sensitive children may doubt Sir Sidney’s wisdom in leaving his animals with an unscrupulous man, and the closing message is a tad didactic, but that doesn’t blunt the fun too much.
Most children will agree the book is “smafunderful (smart + fun + wonderful).” (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 7-10)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-61620-244-6
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Algonquin
Review Posted Online: May 28, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Nine-year-old Hank Wolowitz fears the prospect of fourth grade at New York’s PS 166 without friends—his best friend Alexander just moved away (against his will). Sasha Chin from downstairs doesn’t really count as a friend, because she has three good girl friends she hangs out with half the time. When Hank reaches for a Lego piece under the sink of his family’s ice-cream shop, Big Round Pumpkin, and feels fur where it shouldn’t be and days later sees a waffle cone disappear bite by bite, he knows something is fishy. After Rootbeer, the neighbor’s dog, goes bananas barking at nothing in the hallway, Hank discovers he has accidentally saved an invisible, furry Bandapat named Inkling. Inkling, who loves squash and can be a stranger to the truth, feels he owes Hank a debt and must stick around until he can save Hank’s life. An opportunity for that just might arise, since bully Bruno Gillicut has decided that Hank annoys him and must pay by forking over his dessert at lunch every day. Jenkins’ possible series starter (given the hints at the close) is a gently humorous and nicely realistic (with the obvious exception of the invisible Peruvian Bandapat) tale about coping with the loss of a lifelong best friend. (The book will feature Bliss’ signature black-and-white illustrations, but no art was available at the time of review.) Anyone who who has ever had an imaginary friend will appreciate sassy Inkling (who’s invisible—not imaginary). (Fantasy. 7-10)
Pub Date: April 26, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-180220-1
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2011
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