Readers riding waves of amusement will howl for more.
The latest in this early reader series finds the lupine misanthrope planning a trip.
Wolf boards a bus in the middle of the night so as not to encounter anyone. Unfortunately, the bus driver proposes a singalong, and a young boy in the back eagerly chimes in. Once at the hotel, Wolf ignores the irritatingly cheery receptionist and endures an agonizingly long elevator ride with a chipper girl before finding his room—and discovering that someone’s already in his bed! What to do? Wolf decides to nap by the pool until a bossy youngster disturbs his repose, urging him to take a swim. Wolf’s exhausted. Maybe a hike through the mountains will revive him. Uh-oh. Wolf spots the jolly hiker, an acquaintance who somehow always seems to cross paths with him. Figuring out a way to distract the hiker, Wolf sneaks past him…and just keeps going, rolling suitcase in tow. He avoids the bus filled with singing passengers and walks all the way home, where a truly glorious staycation is about to unfold. The ever-apprehensive Wolf sports red-accented tennis shoes and his usual vexed expression; his protruding eyeballs register his stress. The color-washed settings are sometimes night-dim but sometimes sunny. Just as Wolf—mostly—maintains his sangfroid, the wryly funny text never loses its understated calm, with its quick, brief sentences describing our hero’s travails as he skirts disaster. Human characters are diverse.
Readers riding waves of amusement will howl for more. (Early reader. 6-9)Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9780823457793
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Neal Porter/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2025
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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