A commendably effective and unvarnished presentation of wolf culling, for readers who are ready for it.
A wolf whose life is disrupted by culling struggles to survive in this picture book.
This is not a picture book for very sensitive young readers. Its subject matter, shooting wolves from helicopters, is raw. The story is told from the viewpoint of Spur, a young wolf who lives with her brother and their pack. Lacking food in the logged forest, the pack begins to travel to an unlogged grove in the mountains, when a “thunderfly” attacks. Aoyagi’s chilling double-page spread shows the ominous shadow of a helicopter hovering over the pack, and after the page turn, another double-page spread shows a bullet whizzing by Spur. Spur is struck in the paw, and the pack scatters. Alone, Spur eventually comes upon another wolf pack, which welcomes her, and readers learn about pack social structure as Robertson describes how Spur helps mind the young pups to gain trust and to pay her debt. Spur’s new pack begins to make its way to unlogged ground using the gravel logging road, and Aoyagi’s illustrations effectively contrast harmonious shapes of the pristine natural world with jagged shapes in the illustrations of logged forest, log trucks, and another helicopter. When the thunderfly comes again, Spur warns her new pack, and they reach the high ground safely, where Spur is reunited with her brother.
A commendably effective and unvarnished presentation of wolf culling, for readers who are ready for it. (author’s note, resources) (Picture book. 5-10)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-77164-341-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Greystone Kids
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books.
Curious about the Big Wide World outside his Sasquatch community, Hugo makes a friend who is of it.
Sasquatch Hugo’s bedroom is inside a cave and possesses the charming feature of a small stream running through it that he can sail his little toy boat on. It’s cool, but he yearns to see the Big Wide World. When he asks his smart friend Gigi if a Sasquatch might become a sailor, she says it’s possible but would be difficult—the primary rule of their people is to not be seen by Humans. Then, in everyone’s favorite Hide and Go Sneak class, which is held outside, a Human appears; Hugo laughs at the sight, drawing Human attention in a taboo-breaking mistake. Shortly after, Hugo’s toy boat floats into the cave with a Human toy—soon, it’s facilitating a pen-pal–type relationship that’s derailed when Hugo confesses to being a Sasquatch and Human Boone, a budding cryptozoologist, doesn’t believe him. How Hugo and Boone resolve this misapprehension and become friends in a joint search for the Ogopogo concludes this series opener. Potter keeps the third-person narrative tightly focused on Hugo’s perspective, and the details she uses to flesh out the Sasquatch world are delightfully playful. Sala’s drawings depict a homey Sasquatch cavern community, Boone as a freckled, white boy, and Hugo as a hairily benevolent behemoth.
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books. (final art unseen) (Fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2859-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
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