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HARVEY'S MYSTIFYING RACCOON MIX-UP

Name: HARVEY'S MYSTIFYING RACCOON MIX-UP
Author: Eth Clifford
ISBN: 0-395-68714-4

by Eth Clifford ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1994

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One night Harvey (Harvey's Marvelous Monkey Mystery, 1987, etc.) and his cousin Nora see a prowler with a shotgun hanging out in Harvey's yard. They watch, mystified, as the thin stranger in black lifts his gun and shoots at a branch outside Harvey's window. The branch falls into Harvey's room, and with it an adorable raccoon and a plate for printing counterfeit $20 bills. The next morning neighbors come by to find out what the shots were: Mrs. Motley, a nice if nosy woman from next door, and the nurse who recently moved into the area with an old woman she cares for. The raccoon runs out of the house with the plate. They catch him and bring him back. That night the prowler returns, this time with an accomplice. Harvey and Nora hear noises from the attic and go up to investigate. The two prowlers catch them, but Harvey and Nora escape and Harvey solves the mystery: The old woman and her nurse, who only leave their house at night, are actually Wally Warble and his accomplice, Kookie Smith, counterfeiters. Unfortunately, by the time the police come, Wally and Kookie are long gone. Another amusing little book from Clifford. (Fiction. 7- 10)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1994

ISBN: 0-395-68714-4

Page Count: 112

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1994

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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RIVER STORY

by Meredith Hooper & illustrated by Bee Willey ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2000

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Trickling, bubbling, swirling, rushing, a river flows down from its mountain beginnings, past peaceful country and bustling city on its way to the sea. Hooper (The Drop in My Drink, 1998, etc.) artfully evokes the water’s changing character as it transforms from “milky-cold / rattling-bold” to a wide, slow “sliding past mudflats / looping through marshes” to the end of its journey. Willey, best known for illustrating Geraldine McCaughrean’s spectacular folk-tale collections, contributes finely detailed scenes crafted in shimmering, intricate blues and greens, capturing mountain’s chill, the bucolic serenity of passing pastures, and a sense of mystery in the water’s shadowy depths. Though Hooper refers to “the cans and cartons / and bits of old wood” being swept along, there’s no direct conservation agenda here (for that, see Debby Atwell’s River, 1999), just appreciation for the river’s beauty and being. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)

Pub Date: June 1, 2000

ISBN: 0-7636-0792-4

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Candlewick

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
CELEBRITY CAT
by Meredith Hooper & illustrated by Bee Willey

- BOOK REVIEW
GOLD QUEST
by Meredith Hooper & illustrated by Stephen Biesty

- BOOK REVIEW
STEPHEN BIESTY’S CASTLES
by Meredith Hooper & illustrated by Stephen Biesty

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JUDY MOODY SAVES THE WORLD!

by Megan McDonald & illustrated by Peter Reynolds ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2002

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McDonald’s irrepressible third-grader (Judy Moody Gets Famous, 2001, etc.) takes a few false steps before hitting full stride. This time, not only has her genius little brother Stink submitted a competing entry in the Crazy Strips Band-Aid design contest, but in the wake of her science teacher’s heads-up about rainforest destruction and endangered animals, she sees every member of her family using rainforest products. It’s all more than enough to put her in a Mood, which gets her in trouble at home for letting Stink’s pet toad, Toady, go free, and at school for surreptitiously collecting all the pencils (made from rainforest cedar) in class. And to top it off, Stink’s Crazy Strips entry wins a prize, while she gets . . . a certificate. Chronicled amusingly in Reynolds’s frequent ink-and-tea drawings, Judy goes from pillar to post—but she justifies the pencil caper convincingly enough to spark a bottle drive that nets her and her classmates not only a hundred seedling trees for Costa Rica, but the coveted school Giraffe Award (given to those who stick their necks out), along with T-shirts and ice cream coupons. Judy’s growing corps of fans will crow “Rare!” right along with her. (Fiction. 8-10)