Once again, Roman delights with whimsical pictures, clever text, important lessons and plenty of pirate lingo.
In Roman’s (Pepper Parrot’s Problem With Patience, 2013, etc.) newest Captain No Beard adventure, the feisty captain learns that teamwork can save the day.
Life as a pirate ship captain isn’t always fun, especially when the wind dies down and the ship gets “stuck in the doldrums.” Stranded on a desert island, Captain No Beard’s crew endeavors to entertain themselves by seeing shapes in the clouds with a telescope. The colorful illustrations and animated expressions of the characters bring life to the tropical scene populated by good friends. Unfortunately, however, there’s only one telescope. Everyone on the crew wants a turn to see the marshmallows in the clouds, but Captain No Beard claims his status as captain means he gets dibs. When the rest of the crew stomps off to find other entertainment by building a sand castle, Captain No Beard finds that telescope-gazing alone isn’t much fun. Then, when the captain starts bossing the other pirates around and rebuilding their sand castle, his crew relocates to the other side of the beach so they can have some fun and be rid of the domineering captain. Calling it mutiny, Captain No Beard retreats to his dragon-headed ship, proclaiming, “Who needs them anyway? It’s my ship, and I can do everything myself.” However, when a feisty squid attacks the ship in a colorful swirl of purple and blue waves, the big boss quickly learns that he needs his crew to survive. After a moment of hesitation, his loyal team comes to the rescue despite his poor treatment of them, teaching him that it’s more important to be a good friend than a boss. Captain No Beard acknowledges the lesson, saying, “A good captain must consider everyone’s feelings, or else nobody will want to be in his crew,” to which his crew responds with hearty cheers of “Arrgh, arrgh.” His crew’s frankness in explaining how to be both a friend and boss will teach children to speak up when their friends aren’t being as considerate as they could be. Honesty and a genuine apology help heal the misunderstanding, giving way to cheerful fun and a beautiful lesson for kids.
Once again, Roman delights with whimsical pictures, clever text, important lessons and plenty of pirate lingo.Pub Date: March 20, 2013
ISBN: 978-1479182701
Page Count: 36
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 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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