Gibbons (Spiders, 1993, etc.) cobbles together a host of country fairs—fun fairs and harvest fairs, art fairs and antique fairs—into one great megafair in this introduction to the countryside's most enduring, good-time institution. We are walked down the midway, are tempted by food, stand in line for rides, judge the best pig call, cheer a tractor pull, and spin a do-si- do. The last page wraps the story up with a brief history of fairs. The big problem here is the language. There are times when it seems Gibbons confuses woodenness with directness, grinding simplicity for ease of understanding. The unintentional message is that the reader's imagination is not to be trusted. If you can't get to the country fair, this book may have to suffice. But since there are more than 2,000 annual fairs in the United States, the best introduction is to go and visit one. (Nonfiction/Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-316-30951-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1994
“Little Shop of Horrors” for the teddy bear set? Not at all, despite similarities: in this warmhearted tale, a tropical plant with a taste for meat goes from scary houseguest to beloved family member. Nolen (Max and Jax in Second Grade, p. 342, etc.) sketches the plot in a series of letters from young Mortimer Henryson and his parents to Mortimer’s science teacher, Mr. Lester. Having sat next to “Plantcilia” all through third grade, Mortimer begs permission to bring it home for the summer, but after it proves to be both mobile and carnivorous (the family Chihuahua vanishes), his mother is beseeching Mr. Lester to take it back. With characteristic comic extravagance, Catrow (We the Kids, p. 564, etc.) fleshes out the details in a series of frenetic scenes increasingly crowded with long, snaky tendrils, ragged leaves, and bulbous green appendages with ominously toothy rims. As the summer goes on, however, Plantzilla proves less a menace than an eager asset, as capable of playing field hockey with Mortimer as jazz for his boogying parents—even spitting out the unharmed dog and, ultimately, writing a letter of its own: “PEEEple Gooood. I wil sta widdem fro ever!” Readers, plant-lovers or otherwise, will find this vegetative visitor taking root in their affections too. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-15-202412-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Silver Whistle/Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2002
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (40 pp.; $15.95; Sept. 1997; 0-531- 30055-2): A storybook retelling of Hugo's classic of the lonely bellringer and his hopeless love for the beautiful gypsy girl, Esmerelda, whom he rescues from hanging and the evil archdeacon Dom Frollo and reunites with her mother. While remaining relatively faithful to the original, this version from Wynne- Jones (The Maestro, 1996, etc.) is always competent, but never compelling. Slavin creates lovely illustrations, but his pale washes leave even the most festive scenes sedate. The volume lacks power or emotion; adults seeking an alternative—any alternative—to the Disney film may find that this one hardly competes for the hearts and minds of the target audience. (Fiction. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-531-30055-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1997
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