Reverent for all its gently tweaked premise but careless with cultural markers.
In this deceptively solemn retelling of the Epiphany, the three kings not only travel with their wives to Bethlehem, but defer to their sensible suggestions for gifts.
Following a course traced by fingertip on a very generalized recurring map, Queen Hekima and King Balthazar travel from North Africa to pick up King Caspar and Queen Sophia in the Balkans and King Melchior and Queen Mingzhi in China. The party then makes its way to Bethlehem to kneel and worship at the manger—with the traditional gifts rather than, as the kings first impractically propose, a live lion, a heavy golden crown and a massive throne. Along with a tap-activated chorus of angels and occasional camel noises, snatches of “We Three Kings” and other music play in the background on short loops; touching the angel icon beside each block of text activates an even-toned audio reading. The cutout figures in Barlogh’s illustrations are dressed in richly colored if generic regional costumes. They drift or change position with a tap amid, in some scenes, tilt-sensitive showers of leaves or cherry blossoms. Handsome as it is, the art is a weak link; in one scene, book-loving Sophia points to a scroll of Latin that accompanies a picture of an infant baptism as she refers to the baby being “blessed at the Temple.”
Reverent for all its gently tweaked premise but careless with cultural markers. (iPad holiday app. 6-9)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2013
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: James Allen
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2013
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Adventure, humor, and smart, likable characters make for a winning chapter book.
Ada Twist’s incessant stream of questions leads to answers that help solve a neighborhood crisis.
Ada conducts experiments at home to answer questions such as, why does Mom’s coffee smell stronger than Dad’s coffee? Each answer leads to another question, another hypothesis, and another experiment, which is how she goes from collecting data on backyard birds for a citizen-science project to helping Rosie Revere figure out how to get her uncle Ned down from the sky, where his helium-filled “perilous pants” are keeping him afloat. The Questioneers—Rosie the engineer, Iggy Peck the architect, and Ada the scientist—work together, asking questions like scientists. Armed with knowledge (of molecules and air pressure, force and temperature) but more importantly, with curiosity, Ada works out a solution. Ada is a recognizable, three-dimensional girl in this delightfully silly chapter book: tirelessly curious and determined yet easily excited and still learning to express herself. If science concepts aren’t completely clear in this romp, relationships and emotions certainly are. In playful full- and half-page illustrations that break up the text, Ada is black with Afro-textured hair; Rosie and Iggy are white. A closing section on citizen science may inspire readers to get involved in science too; on the other hand, the “Ode to a Gas!” may just puzzle them. Other backmatter topics include the importance of bird study and the threat palm-oil use poses to rainforests.
Adventure, humor, and smart, likable characters make for a winning chapter book. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: April 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3422-9
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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