A heck of a two-fisted action-adventure story.
The Mouse Watch returns for more.
Bernie and Jarvis are riding high after the success of their underwater mission to rescue the Milk Saucer from the nefarious clutches of R.A.T.S. Their next assignment promises to bring the dynamic duo into an exciting new frontier: space! With the brave Cmdr. Sleekwhisker in charge, Bernie and Jarvis are confident they’ll be able to connect the Milk Saucer to a Mouse Watch satellite that could save the world from the effects of global warming. But not everything is as it seems aboard the USS Mozzarella, and things promptly take a turn for the worse. This third entry in the series stands tall upon the shoulders of its predecessors. The characters are limber, the plotting is excellent, and the blend of humor and action provide the crisp read fans of the series have come to expect. Bernie and Jarvis remain engaging protagonists, and the espionage worldbuilding is effectively rendered. The supporting cast from the second book (particularly the Rescue Rangers legacy characters) have a reduced role here, smartly pinning the focus on Bernie and Jarvis while fleshing out the world with some new supporting players. This proves promising for future Mouse Watch titles, a series that has improved with each outing. The Saturday-morning–cartoon flavor is a tricky one to pull off, but the author has managed to turn this series into a true delight.
A heck of a two-fisted action-adventure story. (Adventure. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-368-05220-7
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
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