Friendships can be tricky to navigate, but if youngsters find half of the joy and loyalty of this pair, they’ll be set.
Winsome duo Bink and Gollie are back, this time zipping through a day at the state fair (Bink & Gollie, 2010).
Messy-mopped Bink goes immediately to the Whack-a-Duck game. After all, the prize is the world’s largest donut. In a brilliant spread that shows every step of her comical windup, Bink’s pitch explodes with energy. She is endearingly hopeful, but … not exactly on target. The next chapter is Gollie’s turn to shine. She enters the talent show with stars in her eyes. But when she opens her mouth on stage, nothing comes out—though her expressions are priceless. Luckily there is a much more forgiving audience right around the corner. The last story showcases Bink and Gollie together. Madame Prunely tells them their fortune. (“Destiny?” asks Bink. “Is it a ride?” / “In a manner of speaking,” replies Gollie.) However, these two best friends don’t need to hear much about their future. They have each other and that’s all that matters. It’s difficult to match the exuberance of first meeting (or reading) this winning pair, but Bink and Gollie’s second adventure won’t disappoint. Utterly chuckle-worthy, charming and (thank goodness) still refreshing.
Friendships can be tricky to navigate, but if youngsters find half of the joy and loyalty of this pair, they’ll be set. (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: June 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7636-3361-5
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 20, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
An awesome-tastic invitation to have or share thoughts about bad and better choices.
Actor Tatum’s effervescent heroine steals a friend’s toy and then lies about it.
Thrilled about an upcoming play date with new classmate Wyatt, Sparkella considers her own sparkly stuffies, games, and accessories and silently decides that he’d be more interested in her friend Tam’s remote-controlled minicar. While she and Tam are playing together, Sparkella takes the car when Tam isn’t looking. Tam melts down at school the next day, and Sparkella, seeing her “bestest friend” losing her sparkle, feels “icky, oogy, and blech.” And when Wyatt comes over, he turns out to be far more entranced by glittery goods than some old car. When Sparkella yells at him—“WYATT, YOU HAVE TO PLAY WITH THIS CAR RIGHT NOW!”—her dad overhears and asks where the toy came from…and along with being a thief, Sparkella turns out to be the worst. Liar. Ever. She eventually confesses (her dad forgives her), apologizes (ditto Wyatt and even Tam), and goes on to take part in a three-way play date/sparklefest. Her absolution may come with unlikely ease, but it’s comfortingly reassuring, and her model single dad does lay down a solid parental foundation by allowing that everyone makes mistakes and stressing that she is “never going to be punished for telling the truth in this house.” He and Sparkella present White, a previous entry cued brown-skinned Tam as Asian, and Wyatt has brown skin in Barnes’ candy-hued pictures. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An awesome-tastic invitation to have or share thoughts about bad and better choices. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: May 30, 2023
ISBN: 9781250750778
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The boy-and-beetle friendship first introduced in Broach’s charming novel Masterpiece (2010) is now the cornerstone of an illustrated chapter-book series.
James is a boy, and Marvin is a beetle, but with the help of Marvin’s drawing skills, they find a way to communicate. James’ mom worries that her son’s best friend is an insect, but tiny Marvin has the opposite worry—that James will find human friends who supplant him. When James takes off on a beach vacation, Marvin frets even more, but he manages to have a few adventures of his own, like getting trapped inside Mr. Pompaday’s electric pencil sharpener with his beetle cousin Elaine. At first it’s entertaining to frolic among the shavings, but when an unanticipated pencil clogs the exit hole, there’s big trouble. Murphy clearly revels in the Borrowers-style perspective of the beetles’ miniature world: In their under-sink home, Marvin’s drawing table is a die, and a propped-up birthday-cake candle dwarfs the family. The dramatic, blow-by-blow pencil-sharpener incident dominates the story, but it circles back to friendship. James really did miss Marvin after all, and a souvenir seashell (the perfect beetle hideout!) seals the deal. This winsome series debut is both a sweet story of cross-species friendship and a sobering new way to look at pencil sharpeners. (Fantasy. 6-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-8050-9190-8
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
© Copyright 2024 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.
bookshelf
