Third grader Oliver Olson has a problem that may make many young readers envious: His parents have a compulsion to be deeply involved in his homework, to the extent that when he’s assigned a diorama on the solar system, Dad and Mom are planning to do all the work. Oliver’s parents are extremely overprotective, and he yearns to find some freedom now that he’s getting older. Fortunately, classmate Crystal comes from a less restrictive family, and, when they find common ground on the issue of Pluto’s no-longer-a-planet status, she volunteers to partner with Oliver on the diorama. Oliver’s concern about his parents’ likely disappointment at their exclusion adds a nice level of believability to his character. Each chapter includes a lively illustration from Maione that matches the text neatly, characters’ varied facial expressions conveying just the right emotions. Oliver may not change the world by the end of his diorama project, but he will certainly provide a fast-paced, entertaining read to the chapter-book audience. (Fiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 23, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-374-33487-1
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Vowing that “every single word is true, unless it is false,” Schanzer (Escaping to America, 2000, etc.) relates an American hero’s greatest feat. Called from the backwoods to save the world, Davy takes on Halley’s comet itself, battling the onrushing juggernaut over land and sea, and sending it hurtling back the way it came, tail (figuratively) between its legs. Using one-fourth of each two-paged spread for text, Schanzer fills the rest with softly colored figures who turn robust as the battle begins. Depicted as a clean-shaven, strong-jawed, Rambo-esque figure in form-fitting buckskins, Davy cuts a truly admirable figure; likewise, the Earthbound comet, with its glaring red eyes and sharklike teeth, makes a suitably ferocious-looking adversary. Stopping short of caricature, these folksy critters suit the aw-shucks language perfectly in this original tale. Davy does such a fine job that he wins a seat in Congress, plus the hand of apple-cheeked Sally Sugartree—whose own dustups get an equally vigorous recap in Steven Kellogg’s Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind Crockett (1995), a natural companion piece. (author’s note) (Tall tale/picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-688-16991-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In this witty makeover of the Andersen tale, a grasping queen almost corners the diamond market before an opal—and an Opaline—derail her scheme. After forbidding any other engagements in the kingdom until Prince Ralph is hitched, Queen Frieda proceeds to set tests that none of the candidate princesses, despite expertise in areas as diverse as yo-yo tricks and cyberspace-ecology, can pass. Prince Ralph drives off in high dudgeon—or actually, in a car, which breaks down on an isolated road. Enter grease-spattered Opaline von Highbredde, tow-truck driver and crown princess of neighboring Lower Crestalia. It’s love at first sight. Vaës (Puss in Boots, 1992, etc.) places doll-like figures into elegant Edwardian (or thereabouts) settings, and even Opaline, despite her spotted overalls, stands with a dancer’s grace, not a hair out of place. Perched atop 20 mattresses, the princess spends a sleepless night, not because of the pea at the bottom, but because the huge opal she wears around her neck has caught in her long hair and is lodged in the small of her back. Even the Queen blesses the happy couple the next morning—once she finds out about the huge fortune Opaline stands to inherit. There’s a theatrical air to the story and pictures here, which comes as no surprise, as Vaës is a set designer for the New York City Ballet. Winning. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-316-89633-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
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