A little sketchy of storyline, but well-endowed with digital widgetry and bursts (as it were) of alimentary humor.
A “choose your own”–style quest tale, with selectable options aplenty for protagonist and magical gear as well as plot.
The sudden disappearance of the green stars that bring happy dreams to the people of Leuman prompts the dispatch of a young hero—a boy named Yalot, a girl named Nidia or (with the audio switched off) a child with any reader-entered name—to, ultimately, a creepy castle basement. Along the way, questers are prompted to select several potions or other helpful items (which are smoothly integrated into later incidents), to choose directions at a fork in the road and to perform various other actions before being allowed to go on. The loudly colored cartoon pictures feature an unusually diverse array of touch-activated features, from falling stars, light bulbs and boulders that all become poppable bubbles to Leuman’s hilariously flatulent king and a spectacular cascade of bones rattling down a flight of stairs. The text and narration are available in English (with a British accent) or Spanish, and a thumbnail index allows readers to change options in midcourse if so moved.
A little sketchy of storyline, but well-endowed with digital widgetry and bursts (as it were) of alimentary humor. (iPad storybook app. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2012
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: ALPIXEL
Review Posted Online: Sept. 11, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2012
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81175-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
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