Avast there! As everyone knows—and greedy Captain Purplebeard and his scurvy crew find out, to their cost—no treasure comes without its little hazards. Or big, fatal ones, as the climactic gatefold in this extravagantly illustrated cautionary tale reveals. Lured (literally, as it turns out) by an appropriately loose-jointed fiddler, Purplebeard and his hearties—every gold ring, elaborate tattoo and snaggly brown tooth limned in lapidary detail in Duddle’s digital paintings—eagerly set sail to a doom that, to sharp-eyed observers, is telegraphed from the first page on. As a versifier the author makes a talented visual artist (“THERE IS ONE SMALL THING I FORGOT YESTERDAY— / THERE’S ALSO A MONSTER, OR SO THEY SAY”), but the visual treasure begins on the endpapers, and young lubbers of every stripe will happily climb aboard his lavish, high-style, picture-book debut. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-7636-4876-3
Page Count: 38
Publisher: Templar/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet story about a trapped goose cloaks this piece of bibliotherapy, as a boy with AD/HD learns to sit still for a very good cause. Lear’s book addresses the struggles children have paying attention in school and holding still; for her protagonist, Stephen, the admonishments of adults accompany most of his school day. After school, on a nature walk, Stephen is relieved to be away from all restrictions, where he can run and play freely. When he encounters a goose with its leg in part of a trap, with the chain dragging heavily on its foot, Stephen brings in his parents and authorities to help “Mr. Goose,” but the goose is too frightened. Next, Stephen attempts to trick the goose, but soon figures out that sitting still and feeding the gaggle of geese is the only way to gain their trust. When Mr. Goose comes close enough, Stephen wraps him in his own jacket, growing cold as he waits for help to come. The rescue is a success, the bird flies off, and Stephen gains confidence in his own abilities. Along with Ritz’s realistic pictures, the text is prettified and teacherly; absent is the heartbreaking frustration of AD/HD students and the adults around them, and Lears implies that if children just try harder, they can sit still, which isn’t always true. Real emotions comes through in the scenes of Stephen and his mother, and for some readers, that will be enough. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8075-8628-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1999
As an old lady lies abed and her garden fails with her, a doughty band of doodlebugs—`` `Tiny of body but brave of heart, we will finish what we start!' ''—climbs the tallest tree in search of the elusive Leaf Men, hoping they can set things right. Indeed they can: Appearing just in time for a short but sharp battle in which the evil Spider Queen is slain, the Leaf Men, ``gardeners of a grand and elfin sort,'' doctor all the wilted foliage, then bring the old woman back from the brink by presenting her with a toy lost in the garden long ago. A squad of lilliputian Jolly Green Giants, the emerald Leaf Men cut robust, heroic figures, hands on hips, long tendrils curling gracefully from their bald pates; the Spider Queen and her twiggy cohorts emit a suitably malicious air. Joyce (Santa Calls, 1993, etc.) places the action in a jungle of looming vegetation lit by the smiling moon that sails over nearly every scene. Small scale, grand adventure. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 30, 1996
ISBN: 0-06-027237-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1996
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