by Don Lemna & illustrated by Matt Collins ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2012
Young fans of Robert Newton Peck’s Soup titles will find much to enjoy in this funny, episodic, historical novel full of...
How is a guy supposed to live down taking a baseball to the noggin in the critical moment of an inter-town baseball game in the waning days of summer 1947?
Before flubbing the game, 11-year-old Donald was getting used to living on their farm in Station Hill, Mont. A year ago, he’d thought his life was over when his father returned from the war and dragged the family away from town, electricity and indoor plumbing (When the Sergeant Came Marching Home, 2008). Donald and his younger brother Pat have settled in thanks to baseball, a dog of confused breed, hockey and a pretty teacher. After his major baseball embarrassment, Don thinks he can win back respect by becoming a deadly archer like Errol Flynn in Robin Hood. A near-total lack of funds and his mother’s reluctance stand in his way. Don is nothing if not resourceful (well, maybe stubborn, too). Archery impresses no one, and the school bullies won’t let up. Don then hopes learning to drive and helping with harvest will do the trick; no such luck. Can Don survive angry bulls, wearing mom’s skates until Christmas and revival-tent–inspired fears of Lucifer himself? As with Lemna’s first, adult readers will have trouble not hearing the voice of Jean Shepherd in their heads as Don narrates his trials and tribulations. It's downright refreshing to see a funny book that doesn't rely on quirky characters for its gusto.
Young fans of Robert Newton Peck’s Soup titles will find much to enjoy in this funny, episodic, historical novel full of realistic characters and light family drama. (Historical fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: April 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8234-2313-2
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 14, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2012
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by Don Lemna
by Candace Fleming ; illustrated by Mark Fearing ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 26, 2017
It’s not the first time old Ben has paid our times a call, but it’s funny and free-spirited, with an informational load that...
Antics both instructive and embarrassing ensue after a mysterious package left on their doorstep brings a Founding Father into the lives of two modern children.
Summoned somehow by what looks for all the world like an old-time crystal radio set, Ben Franklin turns out to be an amiable sort. He is immediately taken in hand by 7-year-old Olive for a tour of modern wonders—early versions of which many, from electrical appliances in the kitchen to the Illinois town’s public library and fire department, he justly lays claim to inventing. Meanwhile big brother Nolan, 10, tags along, frantic to return him to his own era before either their divorced mom or snoopy classmate Tommy Tuttle sees him. Fleming, author of Ben Franklin’s Almanac (2003) (and also, not uncoincidentally considering the final scene of this outing, Our Eleanor, 2005), mixes history with humor as the great man dispenses aphorisms and reminiscences through diverse misadventures, all of which end well, before vanishing at last. Following a closing, sequel-cueing kicker (see above) she then separates facts from fancies in closing notes, with print and online leads to more of the former. To go with spot illustrations of the evidently all-white cast throughout the narrative, Fearing incorporates change-of-pace sets of sequential panels for Franklin’s biographical and scientific anecdotes. Final illustrations not seen.
It’s not the first time old Ben has paid our times a call, but it’s funny and free-spirited, with an informational load that adds flavor without weight. (Graphic/fantasy hybrid. 9-11)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-101-93406-7
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017
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by Candace Fleming ; illustrated by Eric Rohmann
BOOK REVIEW
by Candace Fleming ; illustrated by Eric Rohmann
by Raymond Briggs & illustrated by Raymond Briggs ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 8, 2002
Suggesting that some things haven’t changed since the Stone Age, Briggs (A Bit More Bert, p. 1300, etc.) introduces a moon-faced lad who infuriates his clueless parents by insistently questioning things-as-they-are. To the despair and fury of his dad, Dug, and mom, Dugs, Ug is forever complaining about his stone trousers, wanting something nicer for breakfast than “cold bits of dead animal,” wondering whether the stream couldn’t be “bent” a bit closer to the family cave. He’s not all talk, either, though most of his bright ideas come to naught; his stone boat sinks, his wheel rolls down the hill but has no other apparent use, and though his father indulgently cuts trousers for him from animal hide, they aren’t wearable, as sewing hasn’t been invented. Briggs tells the tale in cartoon panels with dialogue balloons, footnoting his own anachronisms: “No one living in the Stone Age would know he was living in the Stone Age. He would believe he was living in the modern age. Today we believe we are living in the modern age. Time will tell.” Ultimately, Ug fulfills his mother’s dark prediction that he would end up painting on walls, and is last seen beneath his art, still pining for something better. Beneath the satiric barbs there’s a touch of poignancy to this tale of a da Vinci just a few dozen millennia ahead of his time. (Picture book. 8-11)
Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2002
ISBN: 0-375-91611-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2002
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More by Ted Hughes
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by Ted Hughes & illustrated by Raymond Briggs
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by Raymond Briggs & illustrated by Raymond Briggs
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by Allan Ahlberg & illustrated by Raymond Briggs
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