A thoughtful story marred by inconsistent illustrations.
A white boy named Cody helps his military-veteran grandfather cope with memories of a long-ago Christmas in Vietnam as they start a new holiday tradition.
Cody’s parents are hosting a big Christmas Eve party, but Cody’s grandpa stays upstairs in his room alone. As midnight approaches, Cody seeks Grandpa out and urges him to join the party. The older man is sitting with a framed photograph on his lap, and he explains its meaning and his sadness to his grandson. The grandfather served in Vietnam, and one Christmas Eve, he and his fellows sang “Silent Night” together under an unusually bright star, vowing to continue the tradition each year to remember. Cody gets the whole party outside to sing “Silent Night” with Grandpa, starting a new, happy tradition for their family. The long-for-the-format story is sentimental but not saccharine, and the wartime flashback is handled sensitively. The illustrations have a dark, moody aura commensurate with Grandpa’s melancholy mood and the theme. The adult characters are all white except for one party guest with dark skin and hair. The depictions of protagonist Charlie are a serious drawback, as his apparent age and height are inconsistent. Sometimes he looks like a child of 6 or so, as on the cover, where he is depicted sitting on Grandpa’s knee; at other times, he looks 10 or 12 or even like a teenager.
A thoughtful story marred by inconsistent illustrations. (author’s note) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4556-2170-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Pelican
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
Only for dedicated fans of the series.
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster.
“I spot my monster right away. / He’s practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won’t be scared anymore!” The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green–striped tail. The kid employs a “bag of tricks” to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he “rips a massive FART!!” that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster’s house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton’s bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace’s limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off.
Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A nicely inventive little morality “tail” for newly independent readers.
Two little rats decide to show the world how tough they are, with unpredictable results.
Louie and Ralphie Ratso want to be just like their single dad, Big Lou: tough! They know that “tough” means doing mean things to other animals, like stealing Chad Badgerton’s hat. Chad Badgerton is a big badger, so taking that hat from him proves that Louie and Ralphie are just as tough as they want to be. However, it turns out that Louie and Ralphie have just done a good deed instead of a bad one: Chad Badgerton had taken that hat from little Tiny Crawley, a mouse, so when Tiny reclaims it, they are celebrated for goodness rather than toughness. Sadly, every attempt Louie and Ralphie make at doing mean things somehow turns nice. What’s a little boy rat supposed to do to be tough? Plus, they worry about what their dad will say when he finds out how good they’ve been. But wait! Maybe their dad has some other ideas? LaReau keeps the action high and completely appropriate for readers embarking on chapter books. Each of the first six chapters features a new, failed attempt by Louie and Ralphie to be mean, and the final, seventh chapter resolves everything nicely. The humor springs from their foiled efforts and their reactions to their failures. Myers’ sprightly grayscale drawings capture action and characters and add humorous details, such as the Ratsos’ “unwelcome” mat.
A nicely inventive little morality “tail” for newly independent readers. (Fiction. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7636-0
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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