Larry Haskins spent a nearly wonderful summer playing baseball and caring for his three stray dogs. He’s always looking for good homes to place them with, since his family isn’t well-off, and he can keep only as many as he can afford to feed. Paul, his excitable six-year-old brother, sees a possibly black-lab puppy growling beneath a suspicious stain on the wall of an alley. Paul’s sure someone was murdered; Larry just wants to help the puppy. He is, however, running out of funds to buy dog food. Every plan he makes to earn money fails until the mystery of the stain and the puppy provides the answers he needs. Lubar has given parents and teachers of reluctant male readers something to cheer about—especially if they are concerned about the siren call of action-packed, violent series fiction. This gentle story with a laudable hero will draw young boys in as they recognize themselves in Larry, and it will keep them turning pages as his problems mount. The story threads knit together for a happy ending that will leave them wishing it had lasted longer. (Fiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: May 1, 2004
ISBN: 1-58196-013-1
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Darby Creek
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2004
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
One of a four-book series designed to help the very young prepare for new siblings, this title presents a toddler-and-mother pair (the latter heavily pregnant) as they read about new babies, sort hand-me-downs, buy new toys, visit the obstetrician and the sonographer, speculate and wait. Throughout, the child asks questions and makes exclamations with complete enthusiasm: “How big is the baby? What does it eat? I felt it move! Is it a boy or girl?” Fuller’s jolly pictures present a biracial family that thoroughly enjoys every moment together. It’s a bit oversimplified, but no one can complain about the positive message it conveys, appropriately, to its baby and toddler audience. The other titles in the New Baby series are My New Baby (ISBN: 978-1-84643-276-7), Look at Me! (ISBN: 978-1-84643-278-1) and You and Me (ISBN: 978-1-84643-277-4). (Board book. 18 mos.-3)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-84643-275-0
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Child's Play
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
PLB 0-517-70967-8 Me And My Family Tree (32 pp.; $13.00; PLB $14.99; May; 0-517-70966-X; PLB 0-517-70967-8): For children who are naturally curious about the people who care for them (most make inquiries into family relationships at an early age), Sweeney explains, with the assistance of a young narrator, the concept of a family tree. Photographs become understandable once the young girl learns the relationships among family members; she wonders what her own family tree will look like when she marries and has children. A larger message comes at the end of this story: not only does she have a family tree, but so does everyone in the world. Cable’s drawings clearly define the process of creating a family tree; she provides a blank tree so children can start on their own geneaology.(Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-517-70966-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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