Fairies and exotic landscapes rendered with Rackham-esque depth illustrate this handsomely designed tale of a pet who falls among risky friends. Though the Man in the Moon has nailed his mailbox shut and battened down the hatches in response to the arrival of an annual busload of fairy tourists, his bored little dog slips out to play—and soon finds himself abandoned, very far from home. A rotund, bookish old gent with stars in his flyaway hair and beard, the Man in the Moon soon finds it a bit too quiet, and so sets out to track down his wayward companion. Tiny, appropriately mischievous-looking fairies in country dress flit through scenes washed in pale gold and rich in textured swirls of fine natural detail. The episode is rescued from blandness by the fairies’ hijinks, which range from unwinding “moonbeans” to “swapping around seeds to unsettle the spring.” Young children will pore over the art, cheer at the climactic happy reunion and take Ward’s point that “there is nothing quite so NASTY as a fickle FAIRY and nothing quite so NICE as a faithful FRIEND.” (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-525-47727-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81175-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
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