Charlie Muffin, a mouse farmer, taxidermist, and tinkerer, finds his calm, orderly existence in turmoil when Merry Day, a high-spirited, determined young lady, challenges him to breed a green mouse. He’s fallen in love with her at first sight, so he gives it a try, certain he is doomed to failure. When he succeeds they get married, and honeymoon by entering the green mouse in a championship show. Filled with King-Smith’s trademark gentle wit, this story is reminiscent of Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot, without the slapstick. Charlie is an adult who will appeal to children, with his silly inventions and that somewhat macabre hobby of stuffing dead animals. The love story is delightfully satisfying. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-517-80033-0
Page Count: 95
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PLB 0-7358-1106-7 Harry’s Got A Girlfriend! (61 pp.; $13.95; PLB $13.88; Mar.; 0-7358-1105-9; PLB 0-7358-1106-7): A book that takes a typical childhood dilemma and sugarcoats it beyond recognition. When Harry is invited to Michelle’s birthday party, his friends tease him so much that he decides not to go. His father makes a deal with him: if he’s not having a good time, he can call home for a ride. Harry is the only boy at the party, but he has a great time eating, playing, and flying a kite. When his friends find out how much fun he had, they plead to go along the next time, and promise that the teasing will stop. Most readers will find this bland and unrealistic; the actions of all of the children don’t ring true, and the pictures, all smiles and sunshine, match the text all too well. (Fiction. 6-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7358-1105-9
Page Count: 61
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1999
This history of the Mount Rushmore monument is laudatory to a fault, devoting a mere paragraph to the many people who considered (or still consider) the colossal sculpture a blot on the landscape, a man-made disfigurement of nature. Curlee (Into the Ice, 1998, etc.) emphasizes the sculpture’s patriotic aspects: Washington represents the founding of the nation, Jefferson its westward expansion, Lincoln its preservation, and Roosevelt—a controversial choice even at the time—conservation. The details on the physical process of construction, from pointing to blasting, honeycombing to bumping, make the procedures clear even without the finely wrought, realistic illustrations. Equally lifelike is the portrait of Gutzon Borglum, the autocratic artist commissioned for the work, who managed to offend just about everybody involved in the project. Perhaps the most insulted were the Native Americans; only passing reference is made to their belief that the area is sacred ground. Just as beautiful as Curlee’s previous works, this volume should be used in conjunction with other, more comprehensive texts. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-10)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-590-22573-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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