Ethically iffy there at the end but overall a lighter-than-air escapade with just a light wash of satire.
A Bird Scout scavenger hunt sends avian buddies Speed Bump and Slingshot into that scariest of all places…a shopping mall.
Little Speed Bump is understandably frantic as he sets out late to gather “something that turns, / something that’s pink, / something that burns, / something that stinks” to earn his Scavenger Badge. Guided by an overcaffeinated nuthatch, the two Bird Scouts slip through the glass doors into a crowded mall. There they are so beguiled by the pleasures of the food court (pizza crumbs, french fries, and “Pieces of cookie WITH CHOCOLATE STILL IN THEM!”) that they doze past closing time. One spooky night later, Speed Bump stows away in a purse to get out—and is trapped in a car that speeds off, with his would-be rescuers flapping desperately in pursuit. Coverly casts the outing partly in short passages of narrative but mostly in big, loosely drawn pen-and-ink cartoons with dialogue balloons and no end of sight gags, from a “Moltzart” poster in Speed Bump’s bedroom to shops with names like “Starbeaks” and “Bird Bath & Beyond.” Human figures are mostly white when they’re not just scribbles in the background. Ultimately the Scouts earn their badges by ransacking that purse for a key, lipstick, red-hot candies, and a spritzer of “Parfum.”
Ethically iffy there at the end but overall a lighter-than-air escapade with just a light wash of satire. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 7-9)Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8050-8887-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 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
A nifty high-seas caper for chapter-book readers with a love of adventure and a yearning for treasure.
It’s not truffles but doubloons that tickle this porcine wayfarer’s fancy.
Funke and Meyer make another foray into chapter-book fare after Emma and the Blue Genie (2014). Here, mariner Stout Sam and deckhand Pip eke out a comfortable existence on Butterfly Island ferrying cargo to and fro. Life is good, but it takes an unexpected turn when a barrel washes ashore containing a pig with a skull-and-crossbones pendant around her neck. It soon becomes clear that this little piggy, dubbed Julie, has the ability to sniff out treasure—lots of it—in the sea. The duo is pleased with her skills, but pride goeth before the hog. Stout Sam hands out some baubles to the local children, and his largess attracts the unwanted attention of Barracuda Bill and his nasty minions. Now they’ve pignapped Julie, and it’s up to the intrepid sailors to save the porker and their own bacon. The succinct word count meets the needs of kids looking for early adventure fare. The tale is slight, bouncy, and amusing, though Julie is never the piratical buccaneer the book’s cover seems to suggest. Meanwhile, Meyer’s cheery watercolors are as comfortable diagramming the different parts of a pirate vessel as they are rendering the dread pirate captain himself.
A nifty high-seas caper for chapter-book readers with a love of adventure and a yearning for treasure. (Adventure. 7-9)Pub Date: June 23, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-37544-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2015
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