Here’s hoping new books will arrive before the current intended audience moves on to larger tomes.
A resilient and self-reliant young princess must save her kingdom from nefarious forces in the first installment of a new chapter-book series.
Princess Jesireen’s parents, King Willem and Queen Eris of East Waveborn, and her older sister, Princess Alex, have been called away, leaving Jes in the care of a stranger called Lady Umber. If “anything comes up” while the king and queen are away, this stern, sharp-featured woman will rule as regent. When Jes discovers Lady Umber’s plot to assassinate the royal family, the intrepid 9-year-old springs into action. She can’t allow this evil woman to control her country! As Jes meets with royal children from the other Waveborn islands, she finds out the other kings and queens are dead and have been replaced with regents—all of whom, although their names differ, look and sound like Lady Umber. Who’s behind this plan to take over the islands? A short-tempered, physically active princess in boy’s clothing; a woman pirate–turned-housekeeper; a just and democratic monarchy; and energy produced by volcanic steam—this ambitious chapter book packs a punch. The character development and neatly structured world with a fleshed-out history are accompanied by lots of action and humor. Most characters, including Jes, her family, and Lady Umber, are assumed white; Jes’ booby-trap–happy fellow royal, Princess Amalia, has brown skin, as does Jes’ parents’ airship captain.
Here’s hoping new books will arrive before the current intended audience moves on to larger tomes. (Fantasy. 6-10)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-944821-32-6
Page Count: 96
Publisher: CBAY
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
A brisk if bland offering for series fans, but cleverer metafictive romps abound.
The titular cookie runs off the page at a bookstore storytime, pursued by young listeners and literary characters.
Following on 13 previous How To Catch… escapades, Wallace supplies sometimes-tortured doggerel and Elkerton, a set of helter-skelter cartoon scenes. Here the insouciant narrator scampers through aisles, avoiding a series of elaborate snares set by the racially diverse young storytime audience with help from some classic figures: “Alice and her mad-hat friends, / as a gift for my unbirthday, / helped guide me through the walls of shelves— / now I’m bound to find my way.” The literary helpers don’t look like their conventional or Disney counterparts in the illustrations, but all are clearly identified by at least a broad hint or visual cue, like the unnamed “wizard” who swoops in on a broom to knock over a tower labeled “Frogwarts.” Along with playing a bit fast and loose with details (“Perhaps the boy with the magic beans / saved me with his cow…”) the author discards his original’s lip-smacking climax to have the errant snack circling back at last to his book for a comfier sort of happily-ever-after.
A brisk if bland offering for series fans, but cleverer metafictive romps abound. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-0935-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Charming.
An assortment of unusual characters form friendships and help each other become their best selves.
Mr. and Mrs. Tupper, who live at Number 3 Ramshorn Drive, are antiquarians. Their daughter, Jillian, loves and cares for a plant named Ivy, who has “three speckles on each leaf and three letters in her name.” Toasty, the grumpy goldfish, lives in an octagonal tank and wishes he were Jillian’s favorite; when Arthur the spider arrives inside an antique desk, he brings wisdom and insight. Ollie the violet plant, Louise the bee, and Sunny the canary each arrive with their own quirks and problems to solve. Each character has a distinct personality and perspective; sometimes they clash, but more often they learn to empathize, see each other’s points of view, and work to help one another. They also help the Tupper family with bills and a burglar. The Fan brothers’ soft-edged, old-fashioned, black-and-white illustrations depict Toasty and Arthur with tiny hats; Ivy and Ollie have facial expressions on their plant pots. The Tuppers have paper-white skin and dark hair. The story comes together like a recipe: Simple ingredients combine, transform, and rise into something wonderful. In its matter-of-fact wisdom, rich vocabulary (often defined within the text), hint of magic, and empathetic nonhuman characters who solve problems in creative ways, this delightful work is reminiscent of Ferris by Kate DiCamillo, Our Friend Hedgehog by Lauren Castillo, and Ivy Lost and Found by Cynthia Lord and Stephanie Graegin.
Charming. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781665942485
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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