When a Monty Python alum offers a novelization of an Edward Lear poem, it's practically guaranteed to be a Silly Walk. Evolution's very governor, the fabulous Bong Tree, has disappeared from a museum on the shores of Lake Pipple-popple, and two parties are out to track it down: the nefarious Fire Lord with his sulfurous but inept minions, and the familiar furred and feathered sweethearts. It's a long chase, over sea, the Great Gromboolian Plain, and the Land of Water, past Pie-rats, reanimated dinosaur fossils, and the Mulberry Jam Pits, with all sorts of Learian flora and fauna to be met along the way—some of it ready to burst into song. The Fire Lord imposes an Ice Age that leaves Owl frozen solid, but Pussycat's kiss melts bird and climate too; all rush off just in time to save the Bong Tree (which closely resembles a wilted leek) and bombard the Fire Lord with pies. The wedding proceeds, to the tune of the ``Wedding April'' (March is too cold for weddings), and Owl and Pussycat are last seen ``hand in hand on the edge of the sand,'' dancing by the light of the moon. Illustrated with a mix of Lear's sketches and new pen-and-ink drawings in the same spirit, this delivers the kind of funny business for which Idle is known, and will probably appease adult Python fans who wish to pass on a gentler form of the lunacy to their children. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-7871-1042-6
Page Count: 123
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1996
The likable, capable Grants—Sally (12) and her brothers John (10) and Andy (8)—are sailing around the world with their widower father, who has taken a time-out from the journey and is conveniently away when this adventure opens. The children are camping in the Virgin Islands, having promised to contact a nearby hotel should they encounter trouble. And trouble is what they get, by the sea-full. First, twins Jan and Jon, who've already staked out the Grants' campsite as their own, issue an eviction notice. Then a speedboat runs over a pregnant dolphin, and Sally tows her to a hospital for treatment. Next, the same boat blows up near their campsite, leaving behind a cache of cocaine hidden in its fender. John and Andy are kidnapped by drug-runners; Sally and the twins perform a daring rescue. Competently related from Sally's perspective, the story has a will-she-or-won't-she plot about her ability to look after her motherless brothers. She can, and she will. For all the well- paced action, this first novel is, above all, a simple sibling tale. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: April 30, 1993
ISBN: 0-689-31817-0
Page Count: 180
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1993
A depiction of efforts to study and protect a subspecies of cougar that inhabits remote areas of the Everglades—a subspecies decimated by loss of range, pollution, and automobiles: fewer than 50 Florida panthers remain in the wild. Colorful photos show the panthers in a captive breeding program and naturalists tracking, capturing, and attaching radio collars to the dun-colored cats. Public awareness and support for conservation measures are stressed—for example, when it was determined that a great many panthers were killed crossing ``Alligator Alley'' (an Everglades roadway), a new road was designed with underpasses to protect wildlife from traffic. Clark's writing is sometimes awkward and choppy, but the firsthand accounts from scientists and attractive photos make this a good choice. List of ``Florida Panther Milestones''; index. (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: May 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-525-65114-4
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1993
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