Equal parts melancholic and transcendent—a genuine triumph.
A Mexican legend explains the origins of two volcanoes.
Many suitors come from far and wide to gain the hand of the kind and beautiful Princess Izta, daughter of the emperor. Though these men present her precious gifts in exchange for marriage, Izta refuses them all. Instead, she falls for Popoca, a courageous warrior. He can offer her nothing except love and devotion, and that’s enough for Izta. Fate, however, conspires against the young lovers. By the emperor's command, Popoca is soon off to war against the dreaded Jaguar Claw. If victorious, Popoca can marry Izta. Little do both know that Jaguar Claw schemes to upset their union. The legend here turns tragic, and it’s a testament to Tonatiuh’s ability as a storyteller and artist that it never once overwhelms. Using his trademark digital collage style, the author crafts brutally stunning scenes full of sharp angles using a palette of earthy, evocative colors. The text pops with incisive purpose, making every action feel monumental. Yet it’s Tonatiuh’s attention to detail that makes this retelling so splendid. Characters radiate pure emotion with each gesture and body movement; unusual perspectives serve to emphasize these emotions further. As Izta and Popoca’s love is tested, despair gives way to unshakeable faith.
Equal parts melancholic and transcendent—a genuine triumph. (author’s note, glossary, bibliography) (Picture book/folklore. 6-9)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2130-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
Fans both young and formerly young will be pleased—100 percent.
Published in magazines, never seen since / Now resurrected for pleasure intense / Versified episodes numbering four / Featuring Marco, and Horton and more!
All of the entries in this follow-up to The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories (2011) involve a certain amount of sharp dealing. Horton carries a Kwuggerbug through crocodile-infested waters and up a steep mountain because “a deal is a deal”—and then is cheated out of his promised share of delicious Beezlenuts. Officer Pat heads off escalating, imagined disasters on Mulberry Street by clubbing a pesky gnat. Marco (originally met on that same Mulberry Street) concocts a baroque excuse for being late to school. In the closer, a smooth-talking Grinch (not the green sort) sells a gullible Hoobub a piece of string. In a lively introduction, uber-fan Charles D. Cohen (The Seuss, The Whole Seuss, and Nothing but the Seuss, 2002) provides publishing histories, places characters and settings in Seussian context, and offers insights into, for instance, the origin of “Grinch.” Along with predictably engaging wordplay—“He climbed. He grew dizzy. His ankles grew numb. / But he climbed and he climbed and he clum and he clum”—each tale features bright, crisply reproduced renditions of its original illustrations. Except for “The Hoobub and the Grinch,” which has been jammed into a single spread, the verses and pictures are laid out in spacious, visually appealing ways.
Fans both young and formerly young will be pleased—100 percent. (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-385-38298-4
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
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BOOK REVIEW
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An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda.
Hank Zipzer, poster boy for dyslexic middle graders everywhere, stars in a new prequel series highlighting second-grade trials and triumphs.
Hank’s hopes of playing Aqua Fly, a comic-book character, in the upcoming class play founder when, despite plenty of coaching and preparation, he freezes up during tryouts. He is not particularly comforted when his sympathetic teacher adds a nonspeaking role as a bookmark to the play just for him. Following the pattern laid down in his previous appearances as an older child, he gets plenty of help and support from understanding friends (including Ashley Wong, a new apartment-house neighbor). He even manages to turn lemons into lemonade with a quick bit of improv when Nick “the Tick” McKelty, the sneering classmate who took his preferred role, blanks on his lines during the performance. As the aforementioned bully not only chokes in the clutch and gets a demeaning nickname, but is fat, boastful and eats like a pig, the authors’ sensitivity is rather one-sided. Still, Hank has a winning way of bouncing back from adversity, and like the frequent black-and-white line-and-wash drawings, the typeface is designed with easy legibility in mind.
An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-448-48239-2
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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