A charming children’s story about not giving up.
In Roman’s (Captain No Beard, 2012, etc.) latest children’s book, a feisty parrot joins the crew of Capt. No Beard’s pirate ship, The Flying Dragon, but struggles to keep up with the other crew members.
Pirate captain No Beard runs a tight ship. His crew—Mongo the monkey, Linus the lion, Fribbet the frog and human Hallie, the first mate and the captain’s cousin—gets along swimmingly as they do their assigned tasks. Then Pepper the parrot joins The Flying Dragon as the new cook. She’s feisty and friendly, but when Capt. No Beard has the crew practice their emergency routines on deck, she can’t keep her right and left sides straight (starboard and port, in nautical jargon). After a few failed attempts at getting it right, she throws a temper tantrum and pounds her wings on the deck in frustration. Kindly Hallie realizes what the problem is and teaches Pepper a way to tell her right side from her left side—by making an L shape with her left wing. Once Pepper has a handle on the directions, Hallie tells her, “See, Pepper, there was no reason to cry. Don’t get angry and scream. Just ask for help and wait. We are all here to help you. That’s what crewmates do. All you need is a little patience.” The rest of the crew members applaud her and rename her Polly. Roman’s story, the second in the Capt. No Beard series, stresses the importance of teamwork and the necessity of not giving up in difficult situations. The characters help each other to build confidence and learn new skills, and they do so in a kind, patient way. The book has colorful illustrations on each page and uses lots of pirate lingo, which makes this an appealing read for young children. At the end, readers learn that Capt. No Beard is actually a kid named Alexander who was playing in his bedroom, adding a playful dimension about the importance of imagination.
A charming children’s story about not giving up.Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2013
ISBN: 978-1478113553
Page Count: 38
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: April 2, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
In an imaginative wordless picture book, Wiesner (illustrator of Kite Flyer, 1986) tours a dream world suggested by the books and objects in a boy's room. A series of transitions—linked by a map in the book that the boy was reading as he fell asleep—wafts him, pajama-clad, from an aerial view of hedge-bordered fields to a chessboard with chess pieces, some changing into their realistic counterparts (plus a couple of eerie roundheaded figures based on pawns that reappear throughout); next appear a castle; a mysterious wood in which lurks a huge, whimsical dragon; the interior of a neoclassical palace; and a series of fantastic landscapes that eventually transport the boy back to his own bed. Most interesting here are the visual links Wiesner uses in his journey's evolution; it's fun to trace the many details from page to page. There's a bow to Van Allsburg, and another to Sendak's In the Night Kitchen, but Wiesner's broad double-spreads of a dream world—whose muted colors suggest a silent space outside of time—have their own charm. Intriguing.
Pub Date: April 20, 1988
ISBN: 978-0-06-156741-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1988
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