A strange and entertaining affirmation of the parent-child bond.
From Spain, a son’s affectionate tribute to his wandering, heavily decorated, yarnspinning father.
Recalled as the not-quite-adult-sounding narrator remembers them, “all tangled up, like a ball of wool that someone has dropped,” his often-absent father’s rousing if unlikely tales are backed up, or at least inspired by head-to-toe tattoos. They feature death-defying encounters with a double-tailed tiger and a giant bird, a conversation with a huge spider and remarkable feats like catching in midair both the lad himself, who as a baby once flew out a window as the car rounded a bend, and also a crazed trick-shooter’s bullet. Alternating tattoo-style vignettes of animals, hearts, skulls and the like framed in baroque flourishes with wildly fanciful full-page cartoons, pop surrealist Magicomora provides urbane visual counterparts to the stories’ increasingly freewheeling flights. “When I was little,” concludes the narrator, “I thought Dad was in charge of hanging the moon in the sky. Not I know that’s not true. But sometimes, on nights when he’s out there, he does hang up a star. That one, for example.”
A strange and entertaining affirmation of the parent-child bond. (Picture book. 10-12)Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-55498-109-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The Baudelaire children—Violet, 14, Klaus, 12, and baby Sunny—are exceedingly ill-fated; Snicket extracts both humor and horror from their situation, as he gleefully puts them through one terrible ordeal after another. After receiving the news that their parents died in a fire, the three hapless orphans are delivered into the care of Count Olaf, who “is either a third cousin four times removed, or a fourth cousin three times removed.” The villainous Count Olaf is morally depraved and generally mean, and only takes in the downtrodden yet valiant children so that he can figure out a way to separate them from their considerable inheritance. The youngsters are able to escape his clutches at the end, but since this is the first installment in A Series of Unfortunate Events, there will be more ghastly doings. Written with old-fashioned flair, this fast-paced book is not for the squeamish: the Baudelaire children are truly sympathetic characters who encounter a multitude of distressing situations. Those who enjoy a little poison in their porridge will find it wicked good fun. (b&w illustrations, not seen) (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 30, 1999
ISBN: 0-06-440766-7
Page Count: 162
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1999
Like its predecessor, a satisfying, Incredibles-style mix of awesome exploits and common family issues.
Deprived of superpowers in the previous episode (Almost Super, 2014), can the Bailey and Johnson clans put aside their squabbles to tackle their common nemesis, the Joneses?
Determined to prove that they have the mettle to join their parents and relatives in fighting crime, 13-year-old Rafter Bailey, his little brother, Benny, and erstwhile rival Juanita Johnson (definitely the brains of the trio) kick off their own search for the Joneses’ secret hideout. Little do they suspect that those clever villains have planted a ringer in their very midst. Sabotage and other distractions ensue, until Juanita’s sudden disappearance sharpens not only the urgency of the search, but also Rafter’s guilt for being a poor friend. The kidnapping turns out to be a crucial mistake for the bad guys, however, as resourceful Juanita gets off a call for help that both brings the Baileys and Johnsons together for a collective rescue operation and, amid much breakage of glass and heroic feats of derring-do, foils the evil schemes of scenery-chewing archfiend October Jones. Rafter makes a likable narrator, emotionally open and determined to be both a good superhero and a good friend.
Like its predecessor, a satisfying, Incredibles-style mix of awesome exploits and common family issues. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-220958-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 30, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
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