A “brave, strong, and wise” mouse plays a pivotal part defending Camelot and its inhabitants.
Calib Christopher imagines nothing more “glorious than becoming a knight himself and following in his grandfather’s and father’s pawsteps.” When an unknown assassin murders Calib’s grandfather, Camelot mice suspect animals from Darkling Woods. After discovering the Sword in the Stone, which appears at “Camelot’s darkest hour,” and encountering a magical white wolf, Calib realizes his grandfather’s assassination was part of a greater plot threatening Camelot. Somehow he must prevent the mouse army from mistakenly attacking Darklings and uncover the truth. Calib’s story alternates with that of 11-year-old Galahad, Sir Lancelot’s son, who arrives at Camelot while his father and King Arthur are away. As the “last defenders of Camelot,” Calib unites Darklings and Camelot mice against invading weasels while Galahad rallies those in the castle to fight invading Saxons. Leung creates a fascinating parallel world of mice living alongside Camelot’s famous human inhabitants and neatly laces the action-driven plot with colorful animal and legendary Arthurian characters. Spot art adds to the Round Table feel.
A winning new adventure featuring a stalwart warrior mouse, heroic knights, and magical Camelot . (Animal Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-240399-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
Categories: CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In this follow-up to 2020’s The One and Only Bob, Ruby the elephant is still living at Wildworld Zoological Park and Sanctuary.
She’s apprehensive about her Tuskday, a rite of passage for young elephants when she’ll give a speech in front of the rest of the herd. Luckily, she can confide in her Uncle Ivan, who is next door in Gorilla World, and Uncle Bob, the dog who lives nearby with human friend Julia. Ruby was born in an unspecified part of Africa, later ending up on display in the mall, where she met Ivan, Bob, and Julia. The unexpected arrival of someone from Ruby’s past life on the savanna revives memories both warmly nostalgic and deeply traumatic. An elephant glossary and Castelao’s charming, illustrated guide to elephant body language help immerse readers in Ruby’s world. Goofy, playful, and mischievous Ruby is fully dimensional, as she has shown her bravery during the many hardships of her young life. Applegate deftly tempers themes of grief and loss with compassion and humor as Ruby finds her place in the herd. The author’s note touches on climate change, the illegal ivory trade, and conservation efforts, but the highly emotive framing of the story through the memories of a bewildered baby elephant emphasizes the impact of lines such as “ ‘in Africa,’ I say softly, ‘there were bad people,’ ” without offering readers a nuanced understanding of the broader context that drives poaching.
Certain to steal hearts. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780063080089
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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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
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
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