A consistently clever and charming series.
Seafaring best friends experience new adventures both whimsical and thought-provoking.
Following Kondo & Kezumi Reach Bell Bottom (2021), this third series outing sees the titular pals deciding to take one last detour on their way back to their home island. At Tiny Island, they happen upon Lilliputian inhabitants known as the Teenies. Seeing what looks like beach debris and thinking they can help clean it up, Kondo and Kezumi begin to tidy it until they come to a shocking dual realization: Their help is a hindrance, and their large stature is terrifying the diminutive islanders. Once they arrive back at their native isle, something looks amiss: Their home is dripping with slime, and an unwelcome guest is creeping about. Circling back around to their time on Tiny Island, they suss out their feelings about judgments, perception, and giving the unfamiliar a chance; could what seems scary be a new opportunity? Goodner and Tsurumi’s latest installment offers a true visual feast, from the large, brightly rendered illustrations and imaginative worldbuilding all the way down to smaller details, such as the tiny lanterns that house each page number. Imbued with an easy-to-understand moral (it reads like a grandchild of the Berenstain Bears without all the hokiness), Goodner’s tale manages to steer clear of any mawkishness, bringing its narrative satisfyingly full circle. As Kondo and Kezumi resolve this adventure, more are promised for those who may be eagerly anticipating more fun.
A consistently clever and charming series. (Graphic fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: April 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5472-6
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dizzyingly silly.
The famous superhero returns to fight another villain with all the trademark wit and humor the series is known for.
Despite the title, Captain Underpants is bizarrely absent from most of this adventure. His school-age companions, George and Harold, maintain most of the spotlight. The creative chums fool around with time travel and several wacky inventions before coming upon the evil Turbo Toilet 2000, making its return for vengeance after sitting out a few of the previous books. When the good Captain shows up to save the day, he brings with him dynamic action and wordplay that meet the series’ standards. The Captain Underpants saga maintains its charm even into this, the 11th volume. The epic is filled to the brim with sight gags, toilet humor, flip-o-ramas and anarchic glee. Holding all this nonsense together is the author’s good-natured sense of harmless fun. The humor is never gross or over-the-top, just loud and innocuous. Adults may roll their eyes here and there, but youngsters will eat this up just as quickly as they devoured every other Underpants episode.
Dizzyingly silly. (Humor. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-50490-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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