A gentle tale—no serious dark-magic threats here—that grips through its visual lushness. (Picture book. 5-9)
Rollie is a curious, young field mouse discontent with his life in the field.
He has big dreams touched with romance and adventure, which take place in the medieval village he sees from his high meadow. So he strikes camp one day and heads to town, as many a lad and lady are wont to do. On the outskirts of town, he comes upon a wizard’s tower, with two cows floating in the sky nearby. The cows’ predicament has been caused by the wizard’s diminishing powers and, particularly, by his faltering memory. It is Rollie’s good fortune to be welcomed by the wizard and in turn to become the wizard’s able assistant, ready to supply the correct incantation in the wizard’s ear. Here is another well-told, elegantly paced and visually luxurious tale from Morrissey and co-author Krensky (The Crimson Comet, 2006, etc.), one that again shows their talent for insinuating the wackily supernatural into their adventures—those floating cows; a giant apple tree (that’s literal: one giant apple in a tree); a magic fish—and his artistic mastery: whole-page, and occasional two-page, spreads, with soft daubs of oil paint coalescing into a sharp image that nonetheless has a melting, dreamy quality.
A gentle tale—no serious dark-magic threats here—that grips through its visual lushness. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-008066-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2011
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books.
Curious about the Big Wide World outside his Sasquatch community, Hugo makes a friend who is of it.
Sasquatch Hugo’s bedroom is inside a cave and possesses the charming feature of a small stream running through it that he can sail his little toy boat on. It’s cool, but he yearns to see the Big Wide World. When he asks his smart friend Gigi if a Sasquatch might become a sailor, she says it’s possible but would be difficult—the primary rule of their people is to not be seen by Humans. Then, in everyone’s favorite Hide and Go Sneak class, which is held outside, a Human appears; Hugo laughs at the sight, drawing Human attention in a taboo-breaking mistake. Shortly after, Hugo’s toy boat floats into the cave with a Human toy—soon, it’s facilitating a pen-pal–type relationship that’s derailed when Hugo confesses to being a Sasquatch and Human Boone, a budding cryptozoologist, doesn’t believe him. How Hugo and Boone resolve this misapprehension and become friends in a joint search for the Ogopogo concludes this series opener. Potter keeps the third-person narrative tightly focused on Hugo’s perspective, and the details she uses to flesh out the Sasquatch world are delightfully playful. Sala’s drawings depict a homey Sasquatch cavern community, Boone as a freckled, white boy, and Hugo as a hairily benevolent behemoth.
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books. (final art unseen) (Fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2859-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
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