A middling fantasy.
A young girl must find the bravery within to save the kingdom.
Maeve has often gotten in trouble for being a daydreamer. Images go through her head of castles, kings, warriors, and dragons, but she never knew where these thoughts came from. The villagers in her small community think she is a simpleton except for Declan, the young Druid bard she meets at the market when she goes to sell eggs. When Declan introduces Maeve to Bradan, a seer who perceives Maeve’s daydreams more as visions, Bradan wants to help her develop her skills and reassures her that she is not foolish. Maeve is resistant until she meets Riasc Tiarna, a dragon that can communicate with Maeve through her thoughts and who lets her know that she is destined for a task that is extremely important—and she is the only one who can accomplish it. Maeve is stubborn and ornery at times, and her parents are abusive and mean, but insufficient characterization makes these traits feel foundationless. Unfortunately, the worldbuilding also lacks depth. The development of the chosen one trope doesn’t bring anything new to the genre but could be intriguing to young readers encountering it for the first time as the story comes to a satisfying end. All characters are cued as White.
A middling fantasy. (Fantasy. 8-11)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-989724-03-3
Page Count: 232
Publisher: Crwth Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the...
At a time when death has become an acceptable, even voguish subject in children's fiction, Natalie Babbitt comes through with a stylistic gem about living forever.
Protected Winnie, the ten-year-old heroine, is not immortal, but when she comes upon young Jesse Tuck drinking from a secret spring in her parents' woods, she finds herself involved with a family who, having innocently drunk the same water some 87 years earlier, haven't aged a moment since. Though the mood is delicate, there is no lack of action, with the Tucks (previously suspected of witchcraft) now pursued for kidnapping Winnie; Mae Tuck, the middle aged mother, striking and killing a stranger who is onto their secret and would sell the water; and Winnie taking Mae's place in prison so that the Tucks can get away before she is hanged from the neck until....? Though Babbitt makes the family a sad one, most of their reasons for discontent are circumstantial and there isn't a great deal of wisdom to be gleaned from their fate or Winnie's decision not to share it.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1975
ISBN: 0312369816
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1975
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A clever, magical romp, overflowing with high drama and low humor.
In this second series entry, blue-freckled foundling Spella De-broom Cauldroneyes and friends take an exciting shopping trip to Mummy City—arriving just in time to help save the world.
Gathering up both her shy best friend, Tolden Tutters (whose dragon, Softfang, serves as his hearing aid), and the many fantastical hats of her green-skinned guardian witch, Mathilda Cauldroneyes, 8-year-old Spella leaves jolly Hungry Snout Forest for the big city. There, the disappearances of a certain very powerful old cauldron and a rising number of the city’s residents signal that trouble’s beginning to bubble. (“Toothless Toz is ten feet tall and smells of old cheese…His arm fell off in 3356 BC and was never found again, so he used a feather duster in its place.”) As it happens, Stonescare, a “frightful, mean wizard,” has recruited some scary allies for a new scheme. Readers fond of stories filled with silly names, ingenious spellcasting both helpful (a sandwich-dispensing cardigan pocket) and otherwise (screaming farts), and engaging magical creatures (booger-eating purple unicorns, tree wart trolls quaintly collecting roozle wart for their morning tea) will echo Spella’s favorite expression of delight—“toadfire!”—at the many comical twists. They’ll also appreciate the summary way the fledgling wand-wielder sends a pair of sneering bullies packing. The ending promises more adventures to come. Final art not seen.
A clever, magical romp, overflowing with high drama and low humor. (Fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9781665955348
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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