The underwater setting adds some dimension to straightforward friendship stories.
Prolific Dadey's (Keyholders: The Wrong Side of Magic, 2010, etc.) latest series follows young mermaids through turbulent friendships.
Eight-year-old best friends Shelly and Echo are overjoyed to be starting school at the prestigious Trident Academy at the same time. Rambunctious and good-natured, together they cause mild trouble, especially in trying to find a way to make grumpy Mr. Fangtooth crack a smile. Their friendship wobbles when they disagree over whether to ask Shelly's grandfather for help on a school project or not. The minor tiff leads to Echo's sudden friendship with Pearl, a rich snob who dislikes Shelly most of all. Echo and Shelly miss each other, though, and restore their friendship while reaching out to another mermaid who is new to the area and has made friends. While Echo and Shelly are not particularly distinctive, and Pearl and the archetypal token boy, Rocky, are cartoony, the characters' interactions are funny and believable. The friendship-driven conflicts continue in Battle of the Best Friends (publishing simultaneously). In Battle, Pearl books a top under-the-sea band to perform and invites Echo but not Shelly; the end again reinforces the importance of inclusiveness and rewards those who are nice.
The underwater setting adds some dimension to straightforward friendship stories. (class reports written by each character, song lyrics, author's note, glossary) (Fantasy. 6-9)Pub Date: May 18, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-4978-7
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 28, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2012
Lovely and evocative, just the thing to spark an interest in the original and its sequels—and the upcoming film sequel, Mary...
Refined, spit-spot–tidy illustrations infuse a spare adaptation of the 1934 classic with proper senses of decorum and wonder.
Novesky leaves out much—the Bird Woman, Adm. Boom, that ethnically problematic world tour, even Mr. and Mrs. Banks—but there’s still plenty going on. Mary Poppins introduces Jane and Michael (their twin younger sibs are mentioned but seem to be left at home throughout) to the Match-Man and the buoyant Mr. Wigg, lets them watch Mrs. Corry and her daughters climb tall ladders to spangle the night sky with gilt stars, and takes them to meet the zoo animals (“Bird and beast, star and stone—we are all one,” says the philosophical bear). At last, when the wind changes, she leaves them with an “Au revoir!” (“Which means, Dear Reader, ‘to meet again.’ ”) Slender and correct, though with dangling forelocks that echo and suggest the sweeping curls of wind that bring her in and carry her away, Mary Poppins takes the role of impresario in Godbout’s theatrically composed scenes, bearing an enigmatic smile throughout but sharing with Jane and Michael (and even the parrot-headed umbrella) an expression of wide-eyed, alert interest as she shepherds them from one marvelous encounter to the next. The Corrys have brown skin; the rest of the cast presents white.
Lovely and evocative, just the thing to spark an interest in the original and its sequels—and the upcoming film sequel, Mary Poppins Returns, which opens in December 2018. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-328-91677-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
A charming story about self-acceptance.
A girl who’s half-fairy, half-vampire struggles to fit in.
Isadora Moon’s parents can’t decide which school she should attend: fairy school like her mother or vampire school like her father? They opt to send her to a day of fairy school and a night of vampire school and then to let her choose. Pink and sparkly fairy school starts off as good fun but goes downhill with some magic mishaps (a wish for carrot cake summons an ever growing winged carrot) and cultural hiccups (despite the sparkles, they don’t approve of her black tutu in ballet, and she unknowingly desecrates a fairy ring). Vampire school doesn’t go much better—she flies too much like a fairy for vampire formations, her animated toy Pink Rabbit is banned after acting out in jealousy of the bats, and her straight but unruly hair doesn’t want be tamed to vampire standards. Despite her parents’ conflicting wishes that she take after one or the other, she fits into neither mold. After an encounter with a passing group of diverse human children (as opposed to the all–paper-white fantasy creatures), she opts to go to school with them and be an individual herself—a message as attractive as the black, white, and pink illustrations. While Isadora’s parents seem exceptionally clueless about what’s best for their daughter, their loving acceptance of her choice is affirming.
A charming story about self-acceptance. (Fantasy. 6-9)Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-55821-4
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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