A sweet, magical, environmentally conscious adventure.
A young orphan will need all the magic she can muster if she is to help her friends, defeat an evil mage, and figure out how to save the kingdom from destruction.
Desperately hungry, Bee steals a bun from the local bakery. Astonishingly, instead of punishing her, Master Bouts gives her a warm place to sleep, clean clothes, and a job. But when Bee’s moods begin to find their ways into her baked goods, Master Bouts begins to suspect that the young orphan is more than she appears. After the castle requests treats from the bakery, Bee is sent to deliver them. There, she meets Princess Anika and the evil mage, Master Joris. When the two girls discover Joris’ plot to marry the princess off, Bee is determined to rescue her. While this joyful, creative adventure is filled with pirates, magic, missing trees, and a cuddly hedgehog, it is more than just a sweet ride. At its core, this is a story of bravery, resilience, and love. And while the premise of emotions magically empowering food is not new, this recipe has enough added ingredients to satisfy.
A sweet, magical, environmentally conscious adventure. (Fantasy. 8-11)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-62370-642-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Nov. 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2015
Short chapters, simple yet meticulous language, a wholesome feel and the universal story of a boy with a dream combine to...
Ylvisaker (The Luck of the Buttons, 2011) returns to the lovably unlucky Button family, this time with a gentle story about 11-year-old Ned and his love of football.
When local legend-in-the-making Lester Ward goes off to play football for the University of Iowa, he tosses his old football into an eager pack of boys, and surprise of surprises, it is caught by scrawny Ned Button. But when Lester’s younger brother Burton steals the ball away, Ned and his friends are ostracized and reduced to playing with a newspaper-and-twine football on the sidelines. That is, until Granddaddy Ike gets involved. He convinces the group of ragtag youth that football is more about strategy than size, teaching them plays to run against the bigger, tougher boys. And despite a failing heart, Granddaddy arranges to make one of Ned’s dreams—attending a game at the University of Iowa—come true. The precise historical setting—tiny Goodhue, Iowa, in 1929—is not central to this story, though it's carefully drawn. It could happen anyplace where bullies do nothing worse than steal footballs and a grandfather’s advice and love are enough to make a kid feel like he can take on the world.
Short chapters, simple yet meticulous language, a wholesome feel and the universal story of a boy with a dream combine to give this one widespread appeal. (Historical fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5396-5
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
A goblin salute (i.e., a finger up the nose) for this brisk and funny outing.
In an inexcusably tardy sequel to Goblins in the Castle (1992), stakes escalate when old spells and new mischief collide, sending a giant stone toad bounding off with the previous episode’s protagonist in its mouth.
When a bit of incautious foolery with a book of spells leads to her friend William being carried away by the suddenly reanimated monument that gives Toad-in-a-Cage Castle its name, Fauna intrepidly hares off in pursuit. The chase takes her past diverting encounters with a particularly mercurial giant, an urbane troll, and others to the underground goblin city of Nilbog. She has the dubious help of a notably motley set of fellow rescuers, including an obnoxious ghost, the hunchbacked Igor (who clutches a weaponized teddy bear), and a brawny woman warrior with a speech impediment who introduces herself as “Bwoonhiwda.” Coville expertly stirs together moments of terror with goblin farts (“Oh, stop fussing. The smell ain’t gonna hurt you. At least, not much. You might lose a little skin, but it’ll grow back”) and like comical touches. He propels his tale to a climactic battle with a malign mage who threatens Nilbog’s very existence and then ties up all the plotlines both new and old with a neat round of counterspells, revelations, and just deserts.
A goblin salute (i.e., a finger up the nose) for this brisk and funny outing. (afterword) (Fantasy. 9-11)Pub Date: June 16, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4169-1440-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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