Postal pranks and mailroom mischief make for a series starter worth writing home about.
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night keeps this plucky mouse from his deliveries.
Having grown up hearing the tales of his intrepid Great-Aunt Ada, aka “the GREATEST MAILMOUSE WHO EVER LIVED,” Marty Moose is determined to follow in her footsteps. (The book’s opening pages explain that Marty’s unusual name is the result of a birth certificate error.) He sallies forth on his first day of work. Unfortunately, a prankster in the mailroom has slipped two packages that don’t belong into Marty’s pack. Initially all goes well, and though Marty gets lost while making deliveries in a rabbit warren, he befriends Nibbles Frizzby, a bunny best described as a “complete and utter kook,” with a personality that’s equal parts trickster and wise fool. When Marty delivers the prankster’s packages to a pair of feuding toads, he finds himself in dire circumstances. Now Marty must not only escape with his life, but also find the blackguard who’s tricked him. Plenty of potty humor and a justified but still mean-spirited ending threaten to waylay the book’s earnest premise, but Marty’s good humor and Nibbles’ genuine hilarity do much to alleviate such concerns. Powell’s expressive and cartoonish line drawings also bring to life both Marty’s own emotional roller coaster and the chaos his adventures unleash.
Postal pranks and mailroom mischief make for a series starter worth writing home about. (Chapter book. 6-9)Pub Date: Feb. 10, 2026
ISBN: 9781536247800
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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