This Dahl-esque tale may not be quite scrumdiddlyumptious, but it’s a mostly entertaining one.
Jack and his grandfather, a former RAF pilot, are inseparable, even though Grandpa’s grasp on reality is slipping.
It’s 1983, and 12-year-old Jack adores his grandfather and the stories he tells of the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. Problem is, Grandpa lives in his stories now. Jack knows just how to talk to Grandpa: he’s Squadron Leader, and Grandpa is Wing Commander. When Grandpa is found stuck on a church steeple thinking he’s flying his plane, the vicar suggests Twilight Towers. Jack insists Grandpa never be put in a home, but after a disastrous class trip to the history museum that ends in police custody, Grandpa is carted off to Twilight Towers, which is run by the ominously named and more than a little peculiar-seeming Miss Swine. Can Jack and Grandpa effect an escape? And what is really going on with Miss Swine and her cadre of burly nurses? Walliams walks a fine line in his attempt to make dementia funny and doesn’t always succeed. Grandpa’s misunderstanding of the world around him gets repetitious. Though Jack and Grandpa have a realistic and touching relationship, Jack acts much younger than 12. The book’s use of various typefaces and fonts for emphasis and drama, plus ample illustrations from the always splendid Ross, will keep the pages in this plump volume turning, though.
This Dahl-esque tale may not be quite scrumdiddlyumptious, but it’s a mostly entertaining one. (Historical fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-256089-6
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
A feel-good tale of a clever and determined stallion set against a well-developed landscape.
In mid-19th-century Nevada, a colt named Sky grows up to lead his band of wild horses.
Parry’s moving story follows the pattern of her recent animal tales, A Wolf Called Wander (2019) and A Whale of the Wild (2020), chronicling a wild animal’s life in the first person, imagining its point of view, and detailing and appreciating the natural world it inhabits. As Sky grows from wobbly newborn to leader of his family, he faces more than the usual challenges for colts who must fight their stallions or leave their herds when they are grown up. Fagan’s appealing black-and-white illustrations help readers envision this survival story. Sky’s adventures include forced service with the Pony Express; being befriended by an enslaved Paiute boy; escaping to find his now-captured band; and helping them escape the silver miners who’d destroyed their world. Animal lovers will applaud his ingenuity and stubbornness. Although Sky’s band has suffered serious injuries (his mother is blind), he and Storm, a mare who was his childhood companion, lead them toward safety in a new wilderness. The writer’s admiration for these wild horses and her concerns about human destruction of their environment come through even more clearly in a series of concluding expository essays discussing the wild horses, the Indigenous Americans, the natural history of the Great Basin, silver mining, and the Pony Express.
A feel-good tale of a clever and determined stallion set against a well-developed landscape. (author’s note, resources) (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2023
ISBN: 9780062995957
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
The lovable Díaz family has yet to disappoint.
Fourth grade is not for the faint of heart.
In Book 3 of the Stella Díaz series, Dominguez’s Ramona Quimby–esque heroine of Salvadoran and Mexican descent finds herself a tad overextended as she joins an art club, attempts to fulfill her presidential duties at the helm of the ocean-saving Sea Musketeers, and takes swim lessons with best friend Jenny. As if that weren’t enough, her mom is spending a suspicious amount of time with new neighbor Diego, and Stella is not sure how she feels about her mom having a maybe-boyfriend. Stella’s worry and exhaustion are palpable, but her enthusiasm for all of her hobbies is endearingly earnest. Middle-grade readers will get a taste of what’s to come when Stella and her older brother, Nick, compare extracurriculars as he begins to imagine applying to college. As with previous volumes, occasional Spanish words are presented in italics (a decision explained in the author’s note); they are typically accompanied by context clues or in-text translations, narrator Stella confiding to readers that she needs to work on her Spanish. Her overall vocabulary is robust, however, and she easily weaves in words such as guffaw, devious, and deduction that bolster her go-getter characterization. The Chicago setting and its vigorous Latinx community are well realized. The novel can easily be enjoyed without familiarity with previous books, and Dominguez’s black-and-white illustrations give transitioning readers’ eyes places to rest.
The lovable Díaz family has yet to disappoint. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-76308-2
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
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