An endearing testament to the joys of friendship.
Sir Ladybug, a shy bug with a sword, enjoys playing video games and baking cakes but isn’t the type to turn down a quest.
While on a morning excursion with friends Pell (a roly-poly) and Sterling (a snail), Sir Ladybug is approached by a troubled, beetle-appearing bug whose caterpillar friend needs rescuing from a monster. Bolstered by Sir Ladybug’s call for courage, the group of friends embark on their journey to face the deadly creature only to find the monster is really a hungry chickadee in search of its next meal. With some creative problem-solving, however, Sir Ladybug and company put things right over the course of the book as new friendships blossom and characters celebrate one another’s strengths. The chalky, spring-colored illustrations are accompanied by asterisked notes playfully defining terms such as squire and herald and include opening pages for chapters and poetic interludes. These all work together to create a vibrant, segmented graphic novel that can be consumed in pieces or all at once by early readers as desired. Visual humor, tongue-in-cheek declarations, and knock-knock jokes add to the fun absurdity of a story that subverts the natural phenomenon of a bird eating a bug. The story is comprised of an entirely animal cast, with all characters but Sir Ladybug left ungendered.
An endearing testament to the joys of friendship. (Graphic novel. 7-10)Pub Date: March 29, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-306906-0
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading.
When Franklin School principal Mr. Boone announces a pet-show fundraiser, white third-grader Cody—whose lack of skill and interest in academics is matched by keen enthusiasm for and knowledge of animals—discovers his time to shine.
As with other books in this series, the children and adults are believable and well-rounded. Even the dialogue is natural—no small feat for a text easily accessible to intermediate readers. Character growth occurs, organically and believably. Students occasionally, humorously, show annoyance with teachers: “He made mad squinty eyes at Mrs. Molina, which fortunately she didn’t see.” Readers will be kept entertained by Cody’s various problems and the eventual solutions. His problems include needing to raise $10 to enter one of his nine pets in the show (he really wants to enter all of them), his troublesome dog Angus—“a dog who ate homework—actually, who ate everything and then threw up afterward”—struggles with homework, and grappling with his best friend’s apparently uncaring behavior toward a squirrel. Serious values and issues are explored with a light touch. The cheery pencil illustrations show the school’s racially diverse population as well as the memorable image of Mr. Boone wearing an elephant costume. A minor oddity: why does a child so immersed in animal facts call his male chicken a rooster but his female chickens chickens?
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: June 14, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-374-30223-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look...
Winning actually isn’t everything, as jazz-happy Rooster learns when he goes up against the legendary likes of Mules Davis and Ella Finchgerald at the barnyard talent show.
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look good—particularly after his “ ‘Hen from Ipanema’ [makes] / the barnyard chickies swoon.”—but in the end the competition is just too stiff. No matter: A compliment from cool Mules and the conviction that he still has the world’s best band soon puts the strut back in his stride. Alexander’s versifying isn’t always in tune (“So, he went to see his cousin, / a pianist of great fame…”), and despite his moniker Rooster plays an electric bass in Bower’s canted country scenes. Children are unlikely to get most of the jokes liberally sprinkled through the text, of course, so the adults sharing it with them should be ready to consult the backmatter, which consists of closing notes on jazz’s instruments, history and best-known musicians.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58536-688-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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