Whimsical fantasy with the right amount of speed and cleverness for the audience.
A series opener about a caretaker of stables for magical and odd creatures.
Auggie is the caretaker of the mysterious Professor Cake’s Fabled Stables, home to one-of-a-kind creatures of all sorts. As the only boy on Professor Cake’s private island, Auggie’s lonely—the closest thing he has to friends are Miss Bundt (who he suspects was once a pirate) and Fen, a literal stick in the mud (who transforms to aid Auggie in his jobs and is not keen on friendship). One day, a new stall suddenly appears in the stables, meaning a soon-to-arrive creature is in trouble and needs rescue. Auggie must use his cleverness and resources to rescue Willa—a playful, shape-shifting, newborn wisp—from three robed hunters. When the hunters catch them and threaten Willa to try to get at a nonexistent treasure, Auggie cleverly tricks them and summons a rescue from a not-as-apathetic-as-he-pretends Fen. But back at the stables, Willa’s still not out of danger—wisps are moon creatures that only last for one night….The straightforward plot never allows tension to simmer too long without relief for the young audience; add in the comedically inventive creatures, and this book is calibrated to please. The full-color artwork throughout is vibrant in its shading and dreamy in execution, physically grounding the story while enhancing its fantastical otherworldliness. Auggie is depicted with beige skin and brown, curly hair and Mrs. Bundt with blue skin and hair; the hunters are diverse both racially and in gender.
Whimsical fantasy with the right amount of speed and cleverness for the audience. (Fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4269-9
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books.
Curious about the Big Wide World outside his Sasquatch community, Hugo makes a friend who is of it.
Sasquatch Hugo’s bedroom is inside a cave and possesses the charming feature of a small stream running through it that he can sail his little toy boat on. It’s cool, but he yearns to see the Big Wide World. When he asks his smart friend Gigi if a Sasquatch might become a sailor, she says it’s possible but would be difficult—the primary rule of their people is to not be seen by Humans. Then, in everyone’s favorite Hide and Go Sneak class, which is held outside, a Human appears; Hugo laughs at the sight, drawing Human attention in a taboo-breaking mistake. Shortly after, Hugo’s toy boat floats into the cave with a Human toy—soon, it’s facilitating a pen-pal–type relationship that’s derailed when Hugo confesses to being a Sasquatch and Human Boone, a budding cryptozoologist, doesn’t believe him. How Hugo and Boone resolve this misapprehension and become friends in a joint search for the Ogopogo concludes this series opener. Potter keeps the third-person narrative tightly focused on Hugo’s perspective, and the details she uses to flesh out the Sasquatch world are delightfully playful. Sala’s drawings depict a homey Sasquatch cavern community, Boone as a freckled, white boy, and Hugo as a hairily benevolent behemoth.
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books. (final art unseen) (Fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2859-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
© Copyright 2026 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.
