by Frans Vischer & illustrated by Frans Vischer ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2001
A humorous, though lightweight, plot tells of Jimmy Dabble, an extraordinary child, who faces the predictable perils of dull, unimaginative, and hardworking farm parents. Saved from their drab perspective by his own innate abilities and his beloved talking farm animals, he seizes ways to enliven everyone’s life and incidentally increase the farm’s productivity. Besides his animal friends, he is desperately alone, until the arrival of his quirky grandmother, who opens up new vistas of how to disobey his parents. Magic intrudes with a fanciful creature from the forbidden forest, but through the steady, dimensionless plot vehicles, all the characters remain undeveloped. Vischer delivers lively conversation that starts to develop insight and a well-paced story but is curtailed by the rest of the text that lacks spark, development, and expertise. The depth that he tries to invest in his characters is flawed. Even the parents’ latent ability to value anything other than work is cheapened by the politically incorrect nature of how that is foreshadowed: father’s craving for tobacco to fill his empty pipe which perpetually hangs from his mouth, and mother’s gentle appreciation for her figurine collection, which she is willing to sacrifice for the good of the farm. A nominee for the 1998 Reuben Award and an animator for Disney and DreamWorks, Vischer’s art smacks of second-rate cartoons. Despite occasionally sparkling and revealing conversation, overall this lacks smooth-flowing text and developed characterization, making it an unnecessary purchase. (Fiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: July 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-525-46671-1
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2001
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adapted by Eric A. Kimmel & illustrated by Pep Montserrat ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 5, 2008
In these 12 retellings, the Immortals come across as unusually benign. Dionysius at first suggests to King Midas that he give his excess wealth to the poor, for instance; the troubles that Pandora releases are originally imprisoned in the box by Prometheus’s brother Epimetheus out of compassion for humankind; and it’s Persephone herself who begs for a compromise that will allow her to stay with her beloved Hades for six months out of every year. Kimmel relates each tale in easy, natural-sounding language. And even though his Andromeda looks more Celtic than Ethiopian (as the oldest versions of the story have it), Montserrat’s figures combine appropriate monumentality with an appealing expressiveness. The stories are all familiar and available in more comprehensive collections, but the colorful illustrations and spacious page design make this a good choice for shared reading. (foreword) (Nonfiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-4169-1534-8
Page Count: 112
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2007
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by Eric A. Kimmel ; illustrated by Feronia Parker-Thomas
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by Eric A. Kimmel ; illustrated by Dov Smiley
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by Vicki Cobb & illustrated by Barbara Lavallee ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 5, 1991
Nearly a third of this addition to the ``Imagine Living Here'' series describes life in the Australian outback, where ``a mid-sized station with eight thousand sheep is two hundred square miles.'' Cobb states that ``If you lived on the outback of Australia, the only people you would see every day would be your own family''; indeed, the illustration shows a man shearing by hand with just his wife and two children assisting. Is it possible for two adults to shear 8000 sheep without assistance? Balance is a problem throughout; e.g., only one page discusses aboriginal people, while Captain Cook rates three. And, though decorative, the landscapes are so stylized as to be useless for identification, while not only sheep but the platypus, emu, and spiny anteater are all sky blue. Visually striking, but this adds little to the understanding of flora, fauna, or people. (Nonfiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: June 5, 1991
ISBN: 0-8027-6959-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1991
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by Vicki Cobb & illustrated by Barbara Lavallee
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by Vicki Cobb & illustrated by Julia Gorton
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