THE LITTLE PRINCESS

Name: THE LITTLE PRINCESS
Author: Ján Uliciansky

by Ján Uliciansky & illustrated by Miloš Kopták ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 23, 2011

Despite an adult narrative outlook and structural complexities, there’s plenty here for ruminative young readers to latch...

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First and (so far) only English edition of a Slovak novelist and playwright’s dreamlike encounter with a neighbor’s unborn child.

The playful, semi-surreal illustrations in this ethereal tale are reminiscent in tone to The Little Prince, a connection enhanced by explicit direct references to the classic at beginning and end. The narrative plaits together three elements: the author’s introspective commentary, conversations in a dark, stalled elevator with a naive child claiming to be “prematurely lost” and that child’s brief visits with the women (mostly older mothers) who occupy the building’s apartments. The app’s simple but effective digital effects (all of which can be stilled or switched off) include ambient background music with occasional quiet sounds. Stars, lamps and other items spin, fall, light up or drift from side to side at a stately pace and can be controlled in limited ways with a fingertip. An innovative language-switching feature transforms the pages of text from English to Slovak and back with a turn of the tablet. Minor translation glitches aside, the episode offers a nourishing set of simple philosophical observations (“The most important thing is to know where one belongs”) presented in oblique but not impenetrable language, a character gallery of moms and intricate, sophisticated illustrations that reward both visual and tactile exploration.

Despite an adult narrative outlook and structural complexities, there’s plenty here for ruminative young readers to latch onto—just like The Little Prince. (iPad storybook app. 10-14, adult)

Pub Date: April 23, 2011

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: iAdverti s.r.o.

Review Posted Online: May 9, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2011

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SEE YOU IN THE COSMOS

by Jack Cheng ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 28, 2017

Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious.

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If you made a recording to be heard by the aliens who found the iPod, what would you record?

For 11-year-old Alex Petroski, it's easy. He records everything. He records the story of how he travels to New Mexico to a rocket festival with his dog, Carl Sagan, and his rocket. He records finding out that a man with the same name and birthday as his dead father has an address in Las Vegas. He records eating at Johnny Rockets for the first time with his new friends, who are giving him a ride to find his dead father (who might not be dead!), and losing Carl Sagan in the wilds of Las Vegas, and discovering he has a half sister. He even records his own awful accident. Cheng delivers a sweet, soulful debut novel with a brilliant, refreshing structure. His characters manage to come alive through the “transcript” of Alex’s iPod recording, an odd medium that sounds like it would be confusing but really works. Taking inspiration from the Voyager Golden Record released to space in 1977, Alex, who explains he has “light brown skin,” records all the important moments of a journey that takes him from a family of two to a family of plenty.

Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious. (Fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-399-18637-0

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Dial Books

Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
THE MANY MASKS OF ANDY ZHOU
by Jack Cheng ; illustrated by Jack Cheng

CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS AND THE TERRIFYING RETURN OF TIPPY TINKLETROUSERS

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CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS AND THE TERRIFYING RETURN OF TIPPY TINKLETROUSERS

From the Captain Underpants series , Vol. 9

by Dav Pilkey & illustrated by Dav Pilkey ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 28, 2012

Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.

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Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.

Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…

Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)