Strange and disconcerting.
A retelling of an early-19th-century German satirical play in which royalty, mistaken identity, rebellion and angst all play out in a fairy-tale setting requires leaps of comprehension beyond its intended audience.
Prince Leonce and Princess Lena have never met but share a sense of dissatisfaction with their places in life. When it is decreed that they must marry, they separately attempt to escape their fates. But a chance encounter at an inn results in love at first sight. Meanwhile, back at the castle, the King (Leonce’s father) has prepared for the marriage celebrations, and thanks to the machinations of Leonce’s confidant Valerio, the nuptials proceed with disguises and surprises. Amann reimagines the original work, employing wildly varying language and syntax. There are flowery, esoteric descriptions, metaphoric allusions and contemplative moments, along with comedic pronouncements and some modern twists. Zwerger’s imaginative, watercolor-and-collage illustrations incorporate changing perspectives and are filled with unexpected and delightful touches that shed some light on the confusion inherent in the text. Young readers for whom the work is evidently intended will be more puzzled than intrigued (the publisher is recommending an age range of 4-8). It might be more successful with an older audience that has adult guidance, although many adults will be hard-pressed to explain the call for a workless society at the conclusion.
Strange and disconcerting. (biographical material, bibliography) (Play. 10-12)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7358-4141-3
Page Count: 64
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: Oct. 19, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
Breezy and entertaining, with more than a few clever folkloric twists. (Fantasy. 10-12)
Hardly has intrepid Princess Ivy saved her father’s kingdom of Ardendale from one deadly threat (detailed in Ivy’s Ever After, 2010) than along comes another.
When magic beans delivered to newlywed fairy godmother Drusilla shoot prized pixie goat Toadstool into the sky atop an unpleasantly toothy beanstalk/Venus flytrap hybrid, Ivy soars to the rescue aboard her beloved dragon buddy Elridge—only to be seized by Largessa, a giant who has been sleepless for a millennium, ever since that thief Jack stole her singing harp. In consequence, she's grown understandably irritable and threatens to pelt Ardendale with massive rocks unless the harp is returned in a week. Where is it now? Deep in the treasure vaults of distant Jackopia, a kingdom that after 1,000 years of golden eggs is literally paved, walled, floored, decorated and armored with the glittering stuff. And will Jackopia’s single-minded King Jack the 102nd give the golden harp up when Ivy flies in to ask? As if. Endowing her 14-year-old heroine with engaging stubbornness and plucky allies—notably boyfriend-in-the-bud Owen the stable boy—Lairamore dishes up a lighthearted quest tale (with just a hint of romance). Endearingly, all wrongs result from egotism or thoughtlessness rather than malice and are ultimately righted amid a cascade of breathtaking narrow squeaks and truly monumental quantities of bling.
Breezy and entertaining, with more than a few clever folkloric twists. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8234-2392-1
Page Count: -
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
Not even in the same League as Scott Seegert’s funnier and far more useful Vordak the Incomprehensible: How to Grow Up and...
A phoned-in guide to world domination for the easily amused.
Nesbitt offers rightly characterized “brief period[s] of simulated education” (“Your arch is the curve on the bottom of your foot, so an arch nemesis is an enemy that you want to step on”) punctuated by boob, doo-doo and butt jokes. The author lays out a ten–or-so–step program for would-be supervillains—from becoming a genius overnight by playing more video games to acquiring evil minions and robots along with the requisite lair, look, cackle, motto and booty (“Hey! Stop that! Are you laughing at the BIG, SHINY BOOTY? You are?”). He also wanders off on tangents that will likely lose even his intended audience, suggesting such family-friendly pranks as resetting all of the household clocks and watches or periodically announcing that he’s taking a break or that his brother has dropped a hamster down his pants. Long’s small spot cartoon drawings supply neither humor nor relief.
Not even in the same League as Scott Seegert’s funnier and far more useful Vordak the Incomprehensible: How to Grow Up and Rule the World (2010). (Humor. 10-12)Pub Date: July 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4022-3834-5
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2011
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