by Elissa Haden Guest & illustrated by Christine Davenier ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2003
In this fifth slice-of-life story about Iris and Walter, last seen in The Sleepover (2002), our heroes are preparing for a class play where Iris will be a cricket and Walter will be a dragonfly. Iris loves to practice her lines and Walter enjoys creating the costumes with cardboard, paint, and scissors. But when rehearsals start, Walter has a little trouble remembering the words. Though Iris prompts him in rehearsal, Walter is still worried. What if he forgets his lines on the day of the play? Iris promises to help, but on the morning of the big day, Iris has a fever and has to stay home. Fittingly, she worries about her responsibility to her friend. She is deeply disappointed and still feels sad when she returns to school and has to hear all the excited reminiscences about the play, but the future holds promise. Though the stars here are Walter and Iris, and their dear friendship, Guest adds a dandy supporting cast in Grandpa, who is always there to say the right thing, and Miss Cherry, the understanding teacher with creative ideas and sensible solutions. Davenier’s swirling, lively watercolors capture Iris’s exuberance and Walter’s worrywart expression. The situation might be familiar and ordinary, but Guest has an exceptional gift for intelligently capturing all the angst and joy of stage fright and friendship for her audience. Henry and Mudge fans have some new friends in these likable pals. (Easy reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-15-216481-2
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Gulliver/Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2003
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by Christina Soontornvat ; illustrated by Barbara Szepesi Szucs ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 25, 2019
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre.
Ice princess Lina must navigate family and school in this early chapter read.
The family picnic is today. This is not a typical gathering, since Lina’s maternal relatives are a royal family of Windtamers who have power over the weather and live in castles floating on clouds. Lina herself is mixed race, with black hair and a tan complexion like her Asian-presenting mother’s; her Groundling father appears to be a white human. While making a grand entrance at the castle of her grandfather, the North Wind, she fails to successfully ride a gust of wind and crashes in front of her entire family. This prompts her stern grandfather to ask that Lina move in with him so he can teach her to control her powers. Desperate to avoid this, Lina and her friend Claudia, who is black, get Lina accepted at the Hilltop Science and Arts Academy. Lina’s parents allow her to go as long as she does lessons with grandpa on Saturdays. However, fitting in at a Groundling school is rough, especially when your powers start freak winter storms! With the story unfurling in diary format, bright-pink–highlighted grayscale illustrations help move the plot along. There are slight gaps in the storytelling and the pacing is occasionally uneven, but Lina is full of spunk and promotes self-acceptance.
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: June 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-35393-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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by Suzy Kline ; illustrated by Amy Wummer ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 27, 2018
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.
A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
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