A gentle blend of storytelling, travelogue, and reassurance and reinforcement for children beginning to explore the world.
The adventures of a sunny-natured pup continue as she adjusts to her new home in Seattle in the second installment of a travel-centered chapter-book series.
The first book in this series by Bender (Lindie Lou, Adventure Series: Flying High, 2016) took a spirited little dog named Lindie Lou through the first months of her puppyhood with her family in Missouri. It concluded with a plane trip that ends where this book begins: Seattle. There, Lindie Lou meets her new human family and sees some Seattle sights, including Pike Place Market, where Lindie Lou reunites with Max, the old dog who reassured her during their flight to Washington, and the Space Needle, where a frightened Lindie Lou inadvertently causes chaos in a gift store. As before, the pup’s lessons learned and emotions speak to her target audience: young readers whose increasing exposure to the wider world can be both intimidating and exciting. The little dog learns lessons about caution and earning trust, and when she feels overwhelmed, she has the comfort of her favorite toy and the arms of human parent Kate. (This effort to be relatable sometimes comes at the expense of responsible canine caretaking; e.g., Kate lets Lindie Lou trot off with Max at the open-air market and allows random children in a park to grab at and play with her.) Willows’ (Lindie Lou, Adventure Series: Flying High, 2016) cartoon-style illustrations, which share space with the well-spaced text, offer bright colors, clarity, and an endearing, cuddly puppy with big paws and fluffy ears. Different lettering styles add reading fun by giving visual emphasis to certain words. The story’s ending sets up Lindie Lou’s next adventure—a trip to an organic farm. In keeping with the series’ travel theme, the author again includes a quiz, fun facts, things to do and places to go in Seattle, and internet resources. (A couple of grammatical fixes are needed.)
A gentle blend of storytelling, travelogue, and reassurance and reinforcement for children beginning to explore the world.Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-943493-18-0
Page Count: 172
Publisher: Pina Publishing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A spectacular return to a magical world.
Following the events of Impossible Creatures (2024), a devoted Guardian teams up with a brave princess to fight her power-hungry uncle and save the Archipelago’s dragons from a strange new threat.
Jacques the dragon summons Christopher Forrester back to the Archipelago from the human world: Dragons are dying, and no one knows why. Meanwhile, on the island of Dousha, Princess Anya’s grandfather, King Halam, has been murdered, and her father accused—though she knows he’s innocent. When Christopher and Anya take refuge on the islet of Glimt, the Berserker Nighthand helps them see how their twin missions to save the dragons and free Anya’s father are connected. They work together to create an antidote for the poison that’s killing the dragons and to keep Anya and her father safe from her murderous uncle. Meanwhile, Nighthand and Irian, the part-nereid ocean scholar, pursue their own important secret mission. Divided into three parts—“Castle,” “Dragons,” and “Revenge”—and containing elements of fairy tales, fantasy, and Shakespeare, this story continues the storyline established in the series opener, yet because it introduces new characters and obstacles, it could also stand alone. Dark-blond Anya (“five feet tall and all of it claws”) is a match for white-presenting Christopher, who, though he still misses Mal, finds that “it made a difference to have someone to move through the world with again. A friend changed the feel of the universe.” Mackenzie’s delicate, otherworldly art adorns the text.
A spectacular return to a magical world. (map, bestiary) (Fantasy. 10-15)Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2025
ISBN: 9780593809907
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
PROFILES
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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