A fun read, though perhaps not a favorite.
A “Snow White”–inspired tale of a kind, intelligent bot-builder, from the creators of Interstellar Cinderella (2015) and Reading Beauty (2019).
“Once upon a planetoid,” Jo Bright, a green-haired, tan-skinned girl clad in overalls, builds bots from found items, improvising with odds and ends because the “jealous, robot-building queen” (depicted with light skin) won’t let her use her tools and supplies. When the queen’s mirror-bot announces that Jo Bright is the best bot-builder, the queen banishes Jo, leaving her near the dragon’s lair. Sparky, the misunderstood and lonely dragon, invites Jo in for tea, and Jo uses items in the dragon’s home to make seven bots to keep the creature company. Back at the castle, the mirror-bot still confirms Jo is the best bot-builder, so the queen attempts to kill Jo with an evil apple-bot, which zaps the smallest dragon-bot instead. To repair him, Jo must sneak into the queen’s workshop. Sparky and the bots go with her, prepared for trouble, and together they defeat the queen. Underwood’s narrative moves quickly in rhyming stanzas, with only occasionally unnatural constructions to serve the rhyme. Hunt’s quirky illustrations offer diverse creatures, colorful landscapes, and whimsical looking bots, though images of the queen smashing the mirror-bot and the little bot crumpled on the ground may unsettle younger readers, especially those not familiar with the original story. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A fun read, though perhaps not a favorite. (Fairy tale. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4521-7130-2
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience.
The How to Catch A… crew try for Comet.
Having already failed to nab a Halloween witch, the Easter Bunny, a turkey, a leprechaun, the Tooth Fairy, and over a dozen other iconic trophies in previous episodes of this bestselling series, one would think the racially diverse gaggle of children in Elkerton’s moonlit, wintry scenes would be flagging…but no, here they lay out snares ranging from a loop of garland to an igloo baited with reindeer moss to an enticing candy cane maze, all in hopes of snagging one of Santa’s reindeer while he’s busy delivering presents. Infused with pop culture–based Christmas cheer (“Now I’ve already seen the shelf with the elf”), Comet prances past the traps until it’s time to gather up the kids, most of whom look terrified, for a group snapshot with the other reindeer and then climb back into harness: “This was a great stop but a few million to go / Christmas Eve must continue with style!” Though festive, the verse feels trite and unlikely to entice youngsters. A sprinkling of “True Facts About Reindeer” (“They live in the tundra, where they have friends like the arctic bunny”) wrap up this celebration of the predatory spirit. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 9781728276137
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A brisk if bland offering for series fans, but cleverer metafictive romps abound.
The titular cookie runs off the page at a bookstore storytime, pursued by young listeners and literary characters.
Following on 13 previous How To Catch… escapades, Wallace supplies sometimes-tortured doggerel and Elkerton, a set of helter-skelter cartoon scenes. Here the insouciant narrator scampers through aisles, avoiding a series of elaborate snares set by the racially diverse young storytime audience with help from some classic figures: “Alice and her mad-hat friends, / as a gift for my unbirthday, / helped guide me through the walls of shelves— / now I’m bound to find my way.” The literary helpers don’t look like their conventional or Disney counterparts in the illustrations, but all are clearly identified by at least a broad hint or visual cue, like the unnamed “wizard” who swoops in on a broom to knock over a tower labeled “Frogwarts.” Along with playing a bit fast and loose with details (“Perhaps the boy with the magic beans / saved me with his cow…”) the author discards his original’s lip-smacking climax to have the errant snack circling back at last to his book for a comfier sort of happily-ever-after.
A brisk if bland offering for series fans, but cleverer metafictive romps abound. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-0935-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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