An often entertaining children’s story about a skunk that changes his scent.
A skunk discovers a way to make friends with a human family in this debut picture book by TV writer and producer Chambers, with charming illustrations by veteran animator Spille.
This book’s titular skunk is purple, not black, and his inability to camouflage himself makes him frightened of everything. When he wanders into a family’s backyard and discovers free food for the taking (in a dog’s dish), he’s delighted to have found a place of safety. When the dog confronts him, however, the skunk sprays; the dog goes away for a wash, and the skunk moves under the house, content to stay in a nice, safe location. The family is terrified to come outside, however, and their neighbors are angry. Soon, the family calls animal control, but the family’s two children soon see how scared the little skunk is. Hoping to comfort him, they put him on a special pillow and pet him—and the skunk’s stink turns into sweet perfume as he feels what it is to be loved. This silly story about a skunk, with its moral about treating even the prickliest people nicely, should entertain young readers. However, parents may be concerned that it encourages children to treat wild animals as pets. It worked for Smelvis and the human family that adopted him, but real-life children approaching a wild skunk certainly wouldn’t receive sweet perfume. Also, Smelvis keeps his stinky scent for people he doesn’t like, who apparently include countercultural, tattooed skateboarders. Spille’s cartoon illustrations are cute and child friendly, but they show a distinct lack of diversity among the human cast; only one character (the skateboarder) isn’t blond. That said, Chambers’ text, which varies in length from page to page, is accessible for young readers, and the text design, in which the word “skunk” appears in purple typeface, is cleverly done.
An often entertaining children’s story about a skunk that changes his scent.Pub Date: March 11, 2013
ISBN: 978-1477296493
Page Count: 28
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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