Adult fans will find neither gore nor sex, but kids will find an evocative original fairy tale with an unexpectedly complex...
In a clear attempt to capitalize on the wild popularity of the HBO series Game of Thrones,Martin’s 1980 novella sees a second repackaging with new illustrations by Royo, replacing the 2006 edition illustrated by Yvonne Gilbert.
No alterations have been made to the story, aside from setting it all in blue type. Adara, a motherless “winter child,” loves the ice dragon that visits her every year. A cold, contained little girl, Adara keeps to herself, her grieving father and older siblings just as happy to be too busy for her. She gives all the emotion she withholds from her family to the ice dragon, first touching it at age 4 and riding it at 5, all in secret. As this is the world of Game of Thrones, war is being waged all around, though Adara’s remote northern country remains largely untouched, save for the annual visits by her uncle, who rides a fire dragon for the king. But the war eventually comes to them the year she turns 7, when the enemy’s dragonriders overpower the king’s and begin to burn everything in sight—till Adara and her ice dragon fly. Like the type, Royo’s lush ink-and-wash illustrations are all set in blue, heightening the icy feel. They sprawl across spreads, complementing the generously leaded text and providing ample resting place for readers’ eyes. Despite the war and destruction, this is very much a children’s story, told in a distantly folkloric tone that evokes the stylings of Jane Yolen.
Adult fans will find neither gore nor sex, but kids will find an evocative original fairy tale with an unexpectedly complex protagonist . (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7653-7877-4
Page Count: 130
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Nov. 7, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Nonthreatening, nonstop mayhem…next stop: Tinseltown! (Graphic adventure. 8-11)
Otto the peanut-allergic elephant cracks another case.
Still looking for his missing childhood friend, Georgie the chimp, and fresh from helping the big city cops bust a gang of hoodlums, Otto and his sidekick, Crackers the parrot, make their way across the country. This time, they're following circus Punkratz & Pinky, which, if the posters are to be believed, may be where Georgie ended up after being abducted by the man with the wooden nose. Leaving a trail of inadvertent destruction (thanks to Otto's explosive allergic sneezes), they catch up to the circus only to find it's a front for exotic-animal smugglers...and Georgie has moved on. Can the bumbling duo save their new animal friends? The slapstick and goofy situations (Otto dresses as a clown; is mistaken for a football mascot; drives a peanut-shaped car) in Slavin's second full-color graphic adventure will entertain even if several jokes are well above the reading level. It’s also a bit disturbing that animals wearing clothes and speaking are still treated like animals (and hunted for sport) by humans; but the old-timey feel should win fans and please those already established.
Nonthreatening, nonstop mayhem…next stop: Tinseltown! (Graphic adventure. 8-11)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-55453-806-5
Page Count: 88
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: May 28, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2013
What’s a girl to do when her mother is the fairy-tale world’s worst evil queen? Follow in her footsteps? Never!
At the beginning of this series opener, it’s the first day of school at Ever After High, where the offspring of famous fairy-tale characters begin their second year. For these students, Legacy Day beckons, at which time each will sign the Storybook of Legends and take the pledge to replay their parents’ roles. Once they ink their names, the stories they spring from will be safely preserved, but if one does not, rumors have it that the tale—as well as the student—will vanish in a posthaste “poof.” Most are all aflutter to fulfill their requisite destinies, but Raven Queen, the daughter of the exquisitely wicked Evil Queen, doesn’t have an evil bone in her body. If she signs, she is duty-bound to poison Apple White (Snow’s daughter), but she wants to create her own future. When Raven discovers that two fairy-tale sisters long ago broke their pledges, she enlists the sleuthing skills of her wacky roommate, Madeline (as in Hatter), and Apple herself to unravel the sisters’ ultimate fates. Hale has created a delightfully revamped, newly fashioned cast of fairy-tale characters (and in hipper clothes no less—unsurprising, as the book introduces a new line of Mattel dolls) and gives readers a terrific protagonist to root for. Magic and humor abound, and fairy-tale wordplay flies. Royal good fun. (Fantasy. 8-12)
Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-316-40122-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2013
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