A phobic 10-year-old is trapped in a library of animated literary classics in this earnest, handsomely set out, but uninspired tale from Hanna-Barbera's CEO (creator of ``An American Tail'') and a staff writer. Fleeing a thunderstorm, Richie Tyler comes on a large building guarded by marble lions; inside, ``Mr. Dewey'' hands him a library card and sends him into the shadowy stacks, where he falls in with three stubby-limbed companions- -''Adventure,'' in eyepatch and bandanna, motherly ``Fantasy,'' and purple, self-pitying ``Horror.'' Together, they witness Captain Ahab's climactic encounter with Moby Dick, are held prisoner by Long John Silver, and flee on a magic carpet from a fire-breathing dragon, among other brief encounters. The heavy, coated stock and big, bright illustrations give the book a substantial feel at odds with its contents; the authors capture little of the flavor or spirit of their sources (and have a strange idea of what 10-year- olds want to read). The writing can be bombastic (``Fiction A to Z!...The place where a child's imagination can take root and grow to incredible heights!''), and Richie is a cartoon character at best. Looking for a fictive gateway to good books? Entice readers with Anne Lindbergh's imaginative Travel Far, Pay No Fare (1992). (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1993
ISBN: 1-878685-43-0
Page Count: 96
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1993
“Hear, and listen well, my friends, and I will tell you a tale that has been told for a thousand years and more.” It’s not exactly a rarely told tale, either, though this complete rendition is distinguished by both handsome packaging and a prose narrative that artfully mixes alliterative language reminiscent of the original, with currently topical references to, for instance, Grendel’s “endless terror raids,” and the “holocaust at Heorot.” Along with being printed on heavy stock and surrounded by braided borders, the text is paired to colorful scenes featuring a small human warrior squaring off with a succession of grimacing but not very frightening monsters in battles marked by but a few discreet splashes of blood. Morpurgo puts his finger on the story’s enduring appeal—“we still fear the evil that stalks out there in the darkness . . . ”—but offers a version unlikely to trouble the sleep of more sensitive readers or listeners. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-7636-3206-6
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2006
Playing on his customary theme that children have more on the ball than adults give them credit for, Clements (Big Al and Shrimpy, p. 951, etc.) pairs a smart, unhappy, rich kid and a small-town teacher too quick to judge on appearances. Knowing that he’ll only be finishing up the term at the local public school near his new country home before hieing off to an exclusive academy, Mark makes no special effort to fit in, just sitting in class and staring moodily out the window. This rubs veteran science teacher Bill Maxwell the wrong way, big time, so that even after Mark realizes that he’s being a snot and tries to make amends, all he gets from Mr. Maxwell is the cold shoulder. Matters come to a head during a long-anticipated class camping trip; after Maxwell catches Mark with a forbidden knife (a camp mate’s, as it turns out) and lowers the boom, Mark storms off into the woods. Unaware that Mark is a well-prepared, enthusiastic (if inexperienced) hiker, Maxwell follows carelessly, sure that the “slacker” will be waiting for rescue around the next bend—and breaks his ankle running down a slope. Reconciliation ensues once he hobbles painfully into Mark’s neatly organized camp, and the two make their way back together. This might have some appeal to fans of Gary Paulsen’s or Will Hobbs’s more catastrophic survival tales, but because Clements pauses to explain—at length—everyone’s history, motives, feelings, and mindset, it reads more like a scenario (albeit an empowering one, at least for children) than a story. Worthy—but just as Maxwell underestimates his new student, so too does Clement underestimate his readers’ ability to figure out for themselves what’s going on in each character’s life and head. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-689-82596-X
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2002
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