Intermittently exciting despite a far-fetched plot and slapdash execution.
Where is Robin Hood when you need him? Closer than you think.
Admiration for his hero earned Pip, 12, the nickname “Baby Robin,” a source of both pride and chagrin—he’s yet to hit a target with his bow and arrow. Pip’s cousins Lucy and Harold support him even when pride causes Pip to lose his penny in a contest. The children of wool merchants in 12th-century England, they wish Richard the Lionheart would return to oust Prince John, but only Pip is foolhardy enough to provoke the local baron’s men, brushing off warnings to be careful in dangerous times—after all, Robin Hood wouldn’t stand by as innocent peasants are beaten and starved. Accompanying his father to the Bradford Fair offers new opportunities to emulate his hero. There, Pip talks Harold and Lucy into a daring exploit that goes awry. Averting disaster requires effort, ingenuity, and new allies. Like the word “kids” in the title, the children’s dialogue skews contemporary (“okay” and “yeah, I guess”), an effect that’s exacerbated by the insufficiently detailed setting. Characters, all seemingly white, are heroes or villains. Even readers familiar with the folk hero’s mythology will be perplexed by Pip’s repeated contests with and taunting of the powerful, who can and do crush those he wishes to defend. Conflicts are easily resolved, lessons tidily learned.
Intermittently exciting despite a far-fetched plot and slapdash execution. (Historical fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: April 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-77086-533-4
Page Count: 196
Publisher: DCB
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
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
Ironically, by choosing such a dramatic catalyst, the author weakens the adventure’s impact overall and leaves readers to...
A group of talking farm animals catches wind of the farm owner’s intention to burn the barn (with them in it) for insurance money and hatches a plan to flee.
Bond begins briskly—within the first 10 pages, barn cat Burdock has overheard Dewey Baxter’s nefarious plan, and by Page 17, all of the farm animals have been introduced and Burdock is sharing the terrifying news. Grady, Dewey’s (ever-so-slightly) more principled brother, refuses to go along, but instead of standing his ground, he simply disappears. This leaves the animals to fend for themselves. They do so by relying on their individual strengths and one another. Their talents and personalities match their species, bringing an element of realism to balance the fantasy elements. However, nothing can truly compensate for the bland horror of the premise. Not the growing sense of family among the animals, the serendipitous intervention of an unknown inhabitant of the barn, nor the convenient discovery of an alternate home. Meanwhile, Bond’s black-and-white drawings, justly compared to those of Garth Williams, amplify the sense of dissonance. Charming vignettes and single- and double-page illustrations create a pastoral world into which the threat of large-scale violence comes as a shock.
Ironically, by choosing such a dramatic catalyst, the author weakens the adventure’s impact overall and leaves readers to ponder the awkward coincidences that propel the plot. (Animal fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-544-33217-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2015
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