Life is busy for Bella Baxter at the Sea Inn, where the guests come first. That means Bella straightens the newspapers, stacks the dishes, wipes the tables, strips the sheets off the beds and prepares for each guest. Bella loves to meet with Trudy, the local librarian and handywoman, and research the best way to make the new guests welcome. And now, Dr. Frederick Fauna, the famous botanist, is arriving from England. Bella is on the case. Trudy is usually happy to help with research, but she is busy with a little project of her own: She is the proud mother of 25 baby chicks. In between caring for the chicks and learning about native plants, Bella happily prepares Dr. Fauna’s room for arrival, filling it with flowers and even sprinkling beautiful leaves onto his bedspread. But something is wrong. A little itchiness on her arms and legs is easy to ignore in all the preparations, but soon the itchiness grows and Bella and Trudy discover the truth about those lovely three-leaved plants she has spread all over the guest bed. Jolly ink illustrations, generous white space and font and humorous, but predictable story line make this a fine choice for new chapter-book readers. (Fiction. 6-9)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-689-86281-4
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2005
Keena Ford’s second-grade class is taking a field trip to the United States Capitol. This good-hearted girl works hard to behave, but her impulsive decisions have a way of backfiring, no matter how hard she tries to do the right thing. In this second book in a series, Keena cuts off one of her braids and later causes a congressman to fall down the stairs. The first-person journal format is a stretch—most second graders can barely write, let alone tell every detail of three days of her life. Children will wonder how Keena can cut one of her “two thick braids” all the way off by pretend-snipping in the air. They will be further confused because the cover art clearly shows Keena with a completely different hairdo on the field trip than the one described. Though a strong African-American heroine is most welcome in chapter books and Keena and her family are likable and realistic, this series needs more polish before Keena writes about her next month in school. (Fiction. 6-9)
Pub Date: July 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3264-3
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your dreads! Isadora once again plies her hand using colorful, textured collages to depict her fourth fairy tale relocated to Africa. The narrative follows the basic story line: Taken by an evil sorceress at birth, Rapunzel is imprisoned in a tower; Rapunzel and the prince “get married” in the tower and she gets pregnant. The sorceress cuts off Rapunzel’s hair and tricks the prince, who throws himself from the tower and is blinded by thorns. The terse ending states: “The prince led Rapunzel and their twins to his kingdom, where they were received with great joy and lived happily every after.” Facial features, clothing, dreadlocks, vultures and the prince riding a zebra convey a generic African setting, but at times, the mixture of patterns and textures obfuscates the scenes. The textile and grain characteristic of the hewn art lacks the elegant romance of Zelinksy’s Caldecott version. Not a first purchase, but useful in comparing renditions to incorporate a multicultural aspect. (Picture book/fairy tale. 6-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-399-24772-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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