Rodda liberally sprinkles nursery-rhyme references and fairy-tale motifs among her own fresh details to create a splendidly vivid world. Leo and his “least-favorite second cousin” Mimi have seen each other annually at Great-Aunt Bethany’s prim afternoon teas. When Great-Aunt Bethany dies and leaves Leo a finely painted music box, he plans to obey its strict rules—“Turn the key three times only,” etc.—but Mimi comes to visit and immediately the music box is overwound. The tiny, delicately bold paintings on its sides come to life, springing into Leo’s bedroom. An evil queen snatches Mimi’s dog back into the music-box world, and Leo and Mimi are off in pursuit. Despite clashing temperaments, the two stick together through their frightening and colorful travels, while adults seem to constantly flip-flop in trustworthiness. Many references are inexplicit and connections left until the satisfying end; Rodda trusts her readers and gives them sweetness and real emotion with zero sentimentality. A perfect companion to Lyn Gardner’s Into the Woods (2007). (Fantasy. 9-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-545-03535-4
Page Count: 342
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2007
This brisk time-travel yarn propels a modern 12-year-old boy into a tangle of Korean history, the Chinese Zodiac and the age-spanning skill of archery. Facing a typical latch-key Monday, Kevin is shocked by an unusual bedroom intruder: Ancient Korean leader Koh Chu-mong, (fresh from riding a tiger in 55 B.C., and conveniently conversant in charming English), lands in Dorchester, N.Y. in 1999. As he and Kevin resolve their mutual incredulity, a goal unites them: Twenty-four-year-old Chu-mong must return to the past to lead his people. The narrative, peppered with Chu-mong’s expert archery, Kevin’s crucial math calculations (both inaccurate and corrected) and frantic research (via a phone conversation with his grandparents and online library resources), flows swiftly to a tidy, earthy resolution. One tiny quibble: Fully a third of the novel transpires before it’s revealed that Kevin was born in 1987, a fact crucial to the story’s mathematical resolution. Potentially, this jars the reader expecting a wholly contemporary protagonist. Still, the satisfying feats of archery, Kevin’s urgent, believable puzzling and Chu-mong’s ultimate re-launch add up to an exciting novel for male readers, both reluctant and engaged. (historical notes) (Fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: May 15, 2006
ISBN: 0-618-59631-3
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2006
A happy go lucky young lutenist finds what he fancies is a dragon’s tooth, and instantly gains an unwanted reputation as a mighty warrior in this none too serious mini-epic. Hailed by the villagers of Batty-By-Noodle and dressed in a suit of armor lovingly crafted by his mother, the local blacksmith, Digory reluctantly sets out to do what knights are supposed to do: rescue damsels and slay dragons. Fortunately, dragons turn out to be easily avoidable. Unfortunately, damsels in distress are all over the map—every one unpleasantly bossy and conceited. Fortunately, Digory’s quest comes to an end when he meets mussy, krumhorn-playing Princess Enid and her kindly, if seriously dysnomic, father King Widget. Unfortunately, they have this dragon problem . . . but, fortunately, Digory’s deaf old steed Barley shows unexpected facility with a magic sword that drops from the sky, and all ends happily. Beck’s rumpled drawings and vignettes add more amiably comic touches. Ready cheeks; insert tongues. (Fantasy. 9-11)
Pub Date: June 1, 2006
ISBN: 1-58234-722-0
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2006
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