A fun adventure for animal-loving young readers.
Three young, plucky frogs help save the day in Dempsey’s debut for middle-grade readers.
Life is tranquil at Lake Fibian for the Anura, the frog nation, who gather monthly on Luna Light Night “to celebrate the unity of the lake.” Three young frog friends, known for their troublemaking as “The Three,” enjoy many adventures around the lake. Max is the most daring of The Three, while Spyder is more cautious (and a voracious eater), and Cristobel excels at figuring things out. Life hasn’t always been so idyllic, though. According to the “Croaklore,” the lake was once invaded by a creature called a Hoppernot, which walked on two legs, spoke an incomprehensible language, and snatched fish out of the lake without warning. After the Hoppernot departed, all the species made a pact to cooperate. Now the Hoppernots have returned, threatening the peace. The Three discover that the Hoppernots are destroying the animals’ summer resort, a long-abandoned house. Cristobel also finds that she can understand their language. Using this knowledge, The Three mobilize the animals to use their strengths to scare the Hoppernots away. The story is told from a frog’s-eye view, presenting common items such as cars and baseball caps from a frog’s perspective. Even the language has been modified as frog-speak: “They’re too afraid of getting tadnapped and taken away.” Animal lovers will enjoy fun facts neatly incorporated into the plot; for example, a flock of crows is called a murder. In the beginning, the history of the animals’ pact almost overwhelms with detail, and it takes a while for the action to get going. Once it does, though, the story moves at a quick pace, with only a couple of delays for out-of-place flashbacks. Some minor punctuation and grammatical errors, as well as incorrect word choices (“after so much time had past”), may be especially confusing for an audience new to reading. However, well-developed characters, an exciting climax, and a strong theme of working together make this an appealing story.
A fun adventure for animal-loving young readers.Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2014
ISBN: 978-0990481201
Page Count: 252
Publisher: Pug Paw Press
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
