Here Riordan recasts the Sinbad chapter in his Tales from the Arabian Nights (1983) for a younger audience, and Fowles adds comic notes with small, jewel-toned watercolor illustrations done in an appealingly childlike style. The language may not be as ornate or atmospheric as is customary in older versions, but even in the third-person, the melodrama remains: “One moment Sinbad’s eyes were shining with joy. The next ... he froze in terror. Coiled about the diamonds were hundreds of squirming snakes big enough to swallow a caravan of camels.” Closing with a historical note and a thumbnail version of the covering story of Shahrazad, this iteration of the itchy-footed merchant’s misadventures captures the requisite sense of wonder, but John Yeoman’s Seven Voyages of Sinbad, illustrated by Quentin Blake (1996), is still at least a match for child appeal. (glossary) (Picture book/folklore. 9-11)
Pub Date: May 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-84507-531-6
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2008
It’s easy to see how Pilkey’s high-action, easy-reading chapter novel with a comic-book feel would appeal to younger readers. The black-and-white stylish pictures by Ontiveros are way cool and the text is insouciant and funny. This is the third book that pairs the tiny bespectacled mouse, Ricky, with his super-strong, giant robot buddy, a sharp-jawed fellow who looks like an out-of-shape wrestler with rodent ears. Because Ricky is being punished for acting irresponsibly—he and his robot have come home late for dinner again—they are the only ones on the Planet Earth who miss the television show Rocky Rodent. And it’s a good thing too, because that very night a group of Voodoo Vultures from the Planet Venus, tired of eating the melted mess that passes for food on their super hot planet, beam down rays through the television, hypnotizing Earth’s entire population, except for Ricky, into obeying their wishes. When they arrive on Earth, the ravenous vultures order the hypnotized mice to bring them good Earth cooking, in a funny throwaway touch demanding “more chocolate chip cookies” but “no more rice cakes,” until Ricky is able to figure out how to save the day. Parents will be happy to know this tale does have a moral, “responsibility . . . is doing the right thing at the right time,” though giggling fans may miss it. Also containing a rather lame flip-o-rama and instructions on how to draw the characters, this book is silly good fun. (Fiction. 7-10)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-439-23624-X
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Blue Sky/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2000
The second of Ardagh’s Unlikely Exploits series takes the poor but unusually gifted McNally sibs into dreaded Fishbone Forest to reclaim the pilfered brain of their recently deceased youngest member, Fergal. Though they encounter several new characters—notably Mr. Maggs, a menacing, not-exactly-human brain surgeon cradling a teddy bear and scheming to resurrect Cary Grant, make all numbers even, and similar horrors—and do accomplish their goal (sort of), the plot tends to be elbowed aside by backtracking expeditions, authorial asides, and seemingly inexplicable occurrences. The oppressively rain-soaked setting, and Roberts’s vignettes of misshapen figures with madly staring eyes, give the tale a Lemony taste (as in Snicket)—but it reads more like a set-up for future episodes than a self-contained story. (Fiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-8050-7477-5
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2004
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
