A lovely, imaginative tale for the young and young at heart.
A young girl’s dreams come true in this imaginative debut children’s book.
Maggie is your typical 7-and-3/4-year old. She’s nearly three inches “taller than average,” which she loves, and she enjoys exploring, using her “jump rope as a lasso,” and mixing various items together—from different kinds of socks to potatoes and peas. One day, she mixes up something that’s just a little bit out of the ordinary: a combination of water, sugar, pink lemonade, and a few other ordinary ingredients. She spills this concoction on a tree in the backyard before she can dump it into her favorite red bucket and, disappointed, heads off to bed. That night, Maggie awakes to a crackling sound and rises to find that her tree is now completely covered in colorful, sweet sprinkles. She collects them in buckets, cups, and jars, plays with them, and eats them until she nearly gets sick. When she wakes the next morning, though, the sprinkles are gone. Or are they? A small, fuzzy squirrel in the backyard may indicate otherwise. Bray’s delightful debut children’s book is appropriate for kids and adults of all ages, and it’s sure to brighten many bedtime rituals. Maggie is a darling, precocious character (without being too much so), and her ingenuity is remarkable. Her story is also relatable—what child doesn’t like to mix up mud pies and play outside all day? The text includes a recipe for the potion that created the sprinkle tree, and young readers may want to mix it up for themselves. They may be disappointed when a sprinkle tree doesn’t result, but industrious parents can surely figure out a way to make some magic of their own. Jackson’s illustrations are wildly imaginative and vivid, and they bring Maggie’s tale, including her amazing botanical creation, to life. Arrows and text that highlight specific portions of the illustrations are a fun touch, and they make each page engaging and enjoyable. Bray and Jackson are a dazzling duo, and additional books in this series would surely be welcome.
A lovely, imaginative tale for the young and young at heart.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0991396207
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Tumbling Acorn Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 14, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Gooney Bird Greene (with a silent E) is not your average second grader. She arrives in Mrs. Pidgeon’s class announcing: “I’m your new student and I just moved here from China. I want a desk right smack in the middle of the room, because I like to be right smack in the middle of everything.” Everything about her is unusual and mysterious—her clothes, hairstyles, even her lunches. Since the second graders have never met anyone like Gooney Bird, they want to hear more about her. Mrs. Pidgeon has been talking to the class about what makes a good story, so it stands to reason that Gooney will get her chance. She tells a series of stories that explain her name, how she came from China on a flying carpet, how she got diamond earrings at the prince’s palace, and why she was late for school (because she was directing a symphony orchestra). And her stories are “absolutely true.” Actually, they are explainable and mesh precisely with the teacher’s lesson, more important, they are a clever device that exemplify the elements of good storytelling and writing and also demonstrate how everyone can turn everyday events into stories. Savvy teachers should take note and add this to their shelf of “how a story is made” titles. Gooney Bird’s stories are printed in larger type than the narrative and the black-and-white drawings add the right touch of sauciness (only the cover is in color). A hybrid of Harriet, Blossom, and Anastasia, irrepressible Gooney Bird is that rare bird in children’s fiction: one that instantly becomes an amusing and popular favorite. (Fiction. 6-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-618-23848-4
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Walter Lorraine/Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2002
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
© 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.
