Light entertainment for kids who like drama.
Ava, “the FAMOUS Monster Slayer,” uses all her resources to rescue her stuffed toy from the dark woods at camp.
This is not Ava’s first heroic adventure. In her eponymous 2015 debut, she was called upon to rescue Piggy from the basement. Now, Ava and her cousin Sophia are at overnight camp for the first time. Ava is “a little scared.” Sophia is “really scared.” The first night, they all go for an evening hike and eat dinner watching the sunset. But when they return to their cabin, Piggy and Sophia’s beloved Teddy are “GONE!” The counselors say it is bedtime. The boys are no help either. So Ava the FAMOUS Monster Slayer convinces Sophia to sneak out and save their friends. They make weapons out of common objects and prepare themselves for battle. They conquer a serpent, a flying creature, and the terrifying creature (which looks suspiciously like a tree) that has their friends in its clutches. Finally, thanks to “cousin power,” their mission is complete. The comic-book–style layout features the humorous first-person narration of a child who takes her tasks seriously. The crosshatched drawings let personalities shine but call a bit too much attention to the line marks, resulting in a slightly unpolished look. The combination of tenderness for stuffed companions and the fierce bravery required to rescue them is fun and refreshing. Both girls have light skin; Ava has straight, dark hair and glasses while Sophia wears her dark, puffy hair with a bow.
Light entertainment for kids who like drama. (Graphic fiction. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5107-4810-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
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
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