While not strictly biographical, the story captures the curiosity and courage of a woman who finally followed her dream.
This Swiss import introduces an intrepid woman whose world travels and writings were extraordinary for her time.
Ida Pfeiffer (1797-1858) was one of seven children in her Austrian family. One to three sentences per composition convey the narrator’s circumstances and intent, allowing the images to carry details and feelings. A collector of natural specimens and companion to her adventurous brothers, the protagonist was later reined in and married off by her mother. Two sons followed, but they grow and leave in the space of three pages. (The husband was already out of the picture.) The narrative emphasis is on Pfeiffer’s subsequent adventuresome voyage and exploration of flora, fauna, and other civilizations. (In reality, she made several; this story compresses them into one.) Readers will be amused that she had to tie herself to her bed during a storm at sea to avoid falling out. The vivid colors are emotive rather than natural; the shapes are stylized. Pfeiffer has lavender skin and green hair. Friendly jungle inhabitants are a slightly darker purple; wearing masks, they greet her and later include her in a firelit celebration. The book’s large trim size and panoramic spreads suit the scale of her childhood dreams and later escapades. The warm palette and teeming life of her new friends’ island contrast with the barren trees dotting the dark landscape the day her brothers left home.
While not strictly biographical, the story captures the curiosity and courage of a woman who finally followed her dream. (afterword, map) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-7358-4420-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
Powered by whimsy and nostalgia, a doggone adorable tale of superheroes transforming the world for the better.
Can flying puppies, fueled by people’s hugs, save the world from gloom?
Light-skinned Snarly McBummerpants is busy sending out Mopey Smokes (evil-looking dark brown clouds) from his volcano on the Island of Woe to create a sad state of affairs. But the caped puppies, each equipped with a rocket and hailing from “the outer reaches of NOT-FROM-HERE,” use their abilities to conquer the morose McBummerpants and bring happiness back to everyone’s lives. The meticulously detailed illustrations carry the story, dark colors turning to rainbow hues and frowns turning to smiles. From Big Brad to Tiny Brad, the smallest, most powerful puppy, who “[licks] a kiss right on the tip of Snarly McBummerpants’s nose,” these absolutely endearing pooches elicit a universal “AWWWWWWWWWW!” from all who encounter them. Joyce’s witty illustrations depict diverse children and adults who appear to hail from different decades. Two teenagers wear the bobby socks and saddle shoes of the 1940s and ’50s and sit atop a retro soda cooler. Other kids ride the skateboards of a later era. Laurel and Hardy, classic movie performers who may need introduction, are amusingly pictured as bullies turned florists (a little odd, since only Hardy bullied Laurel). Even McBummerpants seems reminiscent of an old-time movie villain. The text is less inventive than the pictures, but the message of good over evil is always timely.
Powered by whimsy and nostalgia, a doggone adorable tale of superheroes transforming the world for the better. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781665961332
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
A meaty tale of unlikely friendship.
A child’s love soothes even the most savage heart in this revisionist version of the classic fairy tale.
On the way to Great-Grandpa’s house, Little Red (short for Redmond Jasper Jones)—attired in red overalls, shoes, and cap—frequently runs into Fred, a large gray wolf who’s positively salivating over the possibility of a juicy meal. Little Red’s delighted to see Fred (the child dubs him the “coolest, biggest, fluffiest…KITTY in the whole wild world”); Fred’s just as happy to see Little Red, but for entirely different reasons. Fred’s constantly setting traps for Little Red, which the unaware child somehow manages to sidestep at the last minute. When temperatures plummet, Fred is injured while attempting to snare Little Red, so the child takes him to Great-Grandpa’s house. There, the youngster learns Fred is not a cat; bespectacled Great-Grandpa points out that Fred is in fact…a dog. Close enough? With plentiful meals and treats and a toasty bed, Fred is unsure whether his benefactor is a friend or food, but he decides to go along with it. Belote’s snappy text mines great humor from the gulf between Little Red’s trusting attitude and Fred’s clearly nefarious intentions; youngsters will derive great satisfaction from seeing what Little Red so obviously misses. The exaggerated art is filled with hijinks; the near misses will remind many adults of the Roadrunner and Coyote cartoons. Little Red is brown-skinned; Great-Grandpa is pale-skinned.
A meaty tale of unlikely friendship. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Nov. 18, 2025
ISBN: 9780593902431
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
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