A Midwestern child’s flights of fancy that are nicely grounded in childhood reality.
A girl takes nighttime dream flights over the landscape below in this picture book for children.
Growing up in Wisconsin, an almost-7-year-old girl named Jamie-Lee Agnes Nelson likes playing outdoors or dressing up like a princess. Jamie-Lee, known as Jamie, also likes her privacy—for reading, daydreaming, or enjoying nature—and even dares to enter the backyard of her strange neighbor, Mr. Harry (nicknamed “Scary Harry”), to sit in his swing and watch the sun rise. Trying to fall asleep one night, she imagines she’s floating upward into the sky, able to see everything down below. Though clumsy on the ground, in the air Jamie feels masterful. It’s so satisfying that she goes on these dreamy journeys every night, exploring everything from her grandparents’ farm to the aurora borealis. Years later, having almost forgotten her flying, she recalls it with affection—and even makes friends with Mr. Harry. Jamie’s character shows a healthy balance between dreamy imaginativeness and earthy, regular-girl energy; she hopes to be a fancy princess, but she wears her hair in braids to avoid combing it. The girl’s flying becomes more convincing thanks to well-chosen sensory details, such as “the hushed soughing of the sturdy, twisting oaks in the breezes.” Similarly, while the book is nostalgic for a time when kids wandered around outside all day by themselves, its young heroine takes the view—perhaps more freely expressed today than in the past—that some grown-ups can be off-putting. The rapprochement between Jamie and Mr. Harry could be more solidly accounted for; though it seems to have something to do with remembering her flights, the link is tenuous. The quirky, soft pastel pencil illustrations capture the story’s wonder, adding charming details like a bird painting that comes to life when Jamie flies.
A Midwestern child’s flights of fancy that are nicely grounded in childhood reality.Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-973678-94-6
Page Count: 30
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: May 14, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A familiar story skillfully reimagined for today’s gadget-savvy youth.
Hannah Hadley is a young special agent who must thwart a clear and present danger to the United States in Hoover’s “smart is cool” young adult novel.
Hannah Hadley might seem like most 13-year-old girls. She enjoys painting, playing with her MP3 player and spending time with friends. But that’s where the similarities end. Hadley doubles as Agent 10-1, among the youngest spies drafted into the CIA’s Div Y department. She’s joined in her missions by her 10-pound Shih Tzu, Kiwi (with whom she communicates telepathically), and her best friend Tommie Claire, a blind girl with heightened senses. When duty calls, the group sneaks to a hidden command center located under the floor of Hadley’s art studio. Her current mission, aptly named “Operation Farmer Jones,” takes her to a secluded farmhouse in Canada. There, al-Qaida terrorists have gathered the necessary ingredients for a particularly devastating nuclear warhead that they intend to fire into America. The villains are joined by the Mad Madam of Mayhem, a physicist for hire whom the terrorists force to complete the weapon of mass destruction. With Charlie Higson’s Young James Bond series and the ongoing 39 Clues novellas, covert missions and secret plans are the plots of choice in much of today’s fiction for young readers, and references to the famed 007 stories abound in Hoover’s tale. But while the plot feels familiar, Hoover’s use of modern slang—albeit strained at times—and gadgets such as the iTouch appeal to today’s youth. Placing girls in adult situations has been a mainstay since Mildred Wirt Benson first introduced readers to Nancy Drew in The Secret of the Old Clock, but Hannah Hadley is like Nancy Drew on steroids. Both are athletic, score well in their studies and have a measure of popularity. Hadley, however, displays a genius-level intellect and near superhuman abilities in her efforts to roust the terrorists—handy skills for a young teen spy who just so happens to get the best grades in school.
A familiar story skillfully reimagined for today’s gadget-savvy youth.Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2010
ISBN: 978-0615419688
Page Count: 239
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An appealing and upbeat tale about fathers and sons.
A father praises his son in this picture book.
Using the refrain “I’m Proud of You Son,” a father recounts various milestones in his child’s life. They range from happenings in babyhood (“You cried your first cry / I dried your little eyes”) and childhood (“Your first day of school / you played it so cool”) to teenage rites of passage, such as learning to drive. Eventually, the story gives a glimpse into the future when the man’s son becomes a father himself. Spencer celebrates key moments in everyday life that readers will likely relate to. Although the somewhat sentimental story is written in the first person as a father speaking to his son, Hoit’s illustrations depict different people of various ethnicities. For example, the boy shown in the graduation image has dark skin and brown eyes while the boy playing ball has light skin and blond hair. The simple but effective pictures mostly reflect what is described in the positive text, offering depictions of a boy’s various activities, such as walking for the first time. Some illustrations include subtext. Accompanying the line “When new life has begun / with your own little one / my job will be done” is an image of a stork carrying a baby; the next illustration shows a blue bassinet.
An appealing and upbeat tale about fathers and sons.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 17
Publisher: Mojum
Review Posted Online: Aug. 14, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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