An affirming tale of friendship that is both quirky and adorable.
Can a scary fairy find acceptance among her cute counterparts?
With cornflower-blue skin, a big poof of dark-blue hair, bat wings, and a nose shaped like an upside-down heart, Frankie Fairy lives with her biology-professor mother. They have just moved, and Frankie is the new kid at Mosstown Elementary. Frankie loves all things nature, which she fastidiously records in her field guide, occasional views of which impart facts and her findings for readers. With her big, warm personality, she greets her new classmates—but they aren’t receptive, finding her fangs and wings so different from their insectile ones. Dismayed, Frankie takes a walk in the woods with Tuna, her pet wooly bear, befriending a garter snake and a baby opossum that’s lost its mother. Frankie shares her experiences with her mom, who gives her good advice, buoying her enough to help her assert herself with her classmates. Boyle’s alluringly vibrant, full-colored graphic offering is an engaging and fresh take on a friendship tale. With her keenly attentive face, Frankie grabs readers, and her big heart and zest for life and nature are positively infectious. Although the humanoid characters are all fairies, they display a great deal of diversity in skin and hair coloring.
An affirming tale of friendship that is both quirky and adorable. (animal facts) (Graphic fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-62010-782-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Oni Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2020
Good-hearted fun—great for fans of Kit Feeny and Babymouse.
It’s a Bigfeet family reunion!
Everyone’s favorite frosty, furry cryptid, the yeti, actually has a name: Blizz Richards. From his supersecret HQ in Nepal he keeps in touch with his fellow cryptids, all of whom have sworn an oath to keep themselves hidden. That’s not always easy, especially when there are cryptozoologists, like the nasty (but bumbling) George Vanquist, who are always trying to expose the secretive creatures. Vanquist got a picture of Blizz’s cousin Brian near his home in British Columbia, causing the mortified Brian to disappear entirely. When Blizz receives an invitation to a Bigfeet family reunion in Canada, he calls his buddies Alexander (one of Santa’s elves), Gunthar (a goblin) and Frank the Arctic fox to help him get ready. When they arrive in Canada, Brian is still nowhere to be seen. Can Blizz and his skunk ape and other sasquatch cousins find Brian, have the reunion and evade Vanquist? If anyone can, the Bigfeet clan can. Illustrator Sherry’s first volume in the Yeti Files is a fast and funny graphic-prose tale full of labeled pictures and comic-style panels. Those just starting chapter books may have some trouble with a few big words, but they’ll enjoy the big friendly monsters and immediately ask for the next tale—which looks to be about the Loch Ness monster.
Good-hearted fun—great for fans of Kit Feeny and Babymouse. (Graphic/fantasy hybrid. 7-10)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-55617-0
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 27, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
A clever, magical romp, overflowing with high drama and low humor.
In this second series entry, blue-freckled foundling Spella De-broom Cauldroneyes and friends take an exciting shopping trip to Mummy City—arriving just in time to help save the world.
Gathering up both her shy best friend, Tolden Tutters (whose dragon, Softfang, serves as his hearing aid), and the many fantastical hats of her green-skinned guardian witch, Mathilda Cauldroneyes, 8-year-old Spella leaves jolly Hungry Snout Forest for the big city. There, the disappearances of a certain very powerful old cauldron and a rising number of the city’s residents signal that trouble’s beginning to bubble. (“Toothless Toz is ten feet tall and smells of old cheese…His arm fell off in 3356 BC and was never found again, so he used a feather duster in its place.”) As it happens, Stonescare, a “frightful, mean wizard,” has recruited some scary allies for a new scheme. Readers fond of stories filled with silly names, ingenious spellcasting both helpful (a sandwich-dispensing cardigan pocket) and otherwise (screaming farts), and engaging magical creatures (booger-eating purple unicorns, tree wart trolls quaintly collecting roozle wart for their morning tea) will echo Spella’s favorite expression of delight—“toadfire!”—at the many comical twists. They’ll also appreciate the summary way the fledgling wand-wielder sends a pair of sneering bullies packing. The ending promises more adventures to come. Final art not seen.
A clever, magical romp, overflowing with high drama and low humor. (Fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9781665955348
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
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