Anastasia Krupnik and her family return in a sixth witty and perceptive novel. Anastasia, now 13, is studying to become a journalist. But even applying journalistic techniques and asking the proper questions doesn't solve all the problems in her life. She's concerned about her friend Daphne's situation, with a father who's left the family and a mother who now hates men. How can Anastasia reinterest Daphne's mother in a social life? And Anastasia wonders why she is the only one who can't climb the ropes in gym class—especially when her gym teacher is, in Anastasia's eyes, the worst possible person to witness her humiliation. With her customary zest, Anastasia tackles these problems head-on, and surprises even herself with the success in solving them. Lowry's deft portrayal of the emotional ups and downs of being 13 is right on target. Readers will identify with Anastasia and enjoy her methods of coping with problems and feelings. Some readers may be offended by the flip attitude toward the death of Anastasia's Aunt Rose. The blasé reactions of Anastasia and her little brother Sam may be tree to life, but at least the recently bereaved Uncle George could show a little feeling. This quibble aside, Anastasia will win new fans and delight her old ones with this addition.
Pub Date: April 28, 1986
ISBN: 0395417953
Page Count: 134
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1986
The glowing friendship of Frog and Toad continues, with Frog as the wiser, supportive partner easing Toad through his small frustrations and uncertainties. Frog plays the sympathetic sounding board while Toad convinces himself to clean house today and take it easy tomorrow instead of the other way round; he encourages Toad through a fourth and finally successful try at kite flying despite the robins' ridicule; he scares himself and Toad with a shivery ghost story that might or might not have happened to him; and, less admirably perhaps, he shrinks Toad's too-big birthday hat with water while leading his friend to believe that Toad's own big thoughts have enlarged his head. Once more, Lobel leaves the two with their friendship reaffirmed, this time after Toad misinterprets his friend's desire to be alone for a while. As in Frog and Toad All Year (1976) the relationship has settled into a comfortable, conflict-free pattern; but the complementary pair continues to delight and vulnerable Toad to invite sympathetic recognition.
Pub Date: Oct. 3, 1979
ISBN: 081243417X
Page Count: -
Publisher: Harper & Row
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1979
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Shining with palpable pride for family and home.
Carlitos’ yearning for his father takes him on a clandestine solo trip to Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, to find him.
In the town of Cataño, across the titular bay from the capital, Carlitos lives with his mother, his abuela, and their cat, Coco. Carlitos’ “family didn’t look like the others.” The neighborhood children play basketball, learn to ride a bike, or do housework with their fathers while Carlitos goes to the barbershop with only his mother. When Carlitos asks about Papi’s whereabouts, his mother reassures him that his father is across the bay—that “sometimes things don’t work out.” Even though he is happy with his family, a desire for more sets Carlitos on a ferry with Papi’s photo in hand. Vibrant illustrations with an inviting tropical palette draw readers in as Carlitos searches high and low for Papi. A refreshingly varied spectrum of brown shades of skin abounds in colorful city scenes. Wide-angle perspectives effectively emphasize emotional scale: the vastness of San Juan Bay, Carlitos’ sense of his own smallness as he searches for his father in the “maze” of the old capital, and his despair at his journey’s end. Aponte’s decision to leave Carlitos’ quest unresolved is an honest one, and readers will respond to this beautiful depiction of a young boy’s physical and emotional journey within a deeply cultural setting.
Shining with palpable pride for family and home. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5247-8662-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
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