Though definitely an underachiever when it comes to merit badges, Hilda’s broad curiosity and willingness to stand up for...
In a never-a-dull moment third outing, blue-haired Hilda joins Sparrow Scouts, finds out where lost household items go and meets some of Trolberg’s supernatural residents.
As if sightings and news reports of a huge black beast in Trolberg aren’t troubling enough, an increasing number of nisses, helpful but sometimes-mischievous domestic sprites, are being ejected by human homeowners for supposed bad behavior. Meanwhile, Hilda’s patchy efforts to earn her camping and other scouting badges are derailed by her concern for the newly homeless nisses and other distractions. Finally, one befriended nisse shows her how to enter a special space that, being the sum total of all out-of-the-way and unreachable nooks, is cluttered with misplaced bric-a-brac—and that turns out to be where the “Beast,” who is just a lonely oversized dog, is lurking when it’s not barreling destructively through houses. Pearson puts a dozen or more cartoon panels on each page, but his art is so simply drawn that the action is always easy to follow. Also, he adds not just gnomic nisses, but other small creatures, natural or otherwise, to his scenes and places Hilda so that she’s always easy to spot. In the end, she both exonerates the nisses and saves the dog from hunters.
Though definitely an underachiever when it comes to merit badges, Hilda’s broad curiosity and willingness to stand up for the undergnome will make her a winner in most readers’ eyes. (Graphic fantasy. 7-9)Pub Date: May 13, 2014
ISBN: 978-1909263185
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Flying Eye Books
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
Young space pirate Sardine checks in for a dozen more mini-adventures, in most of which she, her sidekick Little Louie and hulking captain Yellow Shoulder get the better of evil Supermuscleman and his rubbery orange minion Doc Krok. Along with occasional side trips to play soccer with a giant Dunderhead’s detachable navel or to rescue Yellow Shoulder, the heroic pirates sabotage Supermuscleman’s child brainwashing machine, treat him to an explosive set of Christmas presents and engage in a high speed chase along the Milky Way that ends suddenly when the Milk turns. In one episode that edges perilously close to over-the-top, a pair of his stuttering star thieves briefly captures them. All related in cartoon panels, printed on coated paper to brighten the colors and featuring easily legible lettering in big dialogue balloons, these episodes might seem a touch repetitious to adults, especially those familiar with volume one (May 2006), but they will keep the younger audiences to whom they’re actually addressed chortling. (Graphic novel. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2006
ISBN: 1-59643-127-X
Page Count: 128
Publisher: First Second/Roaring Brook
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2006
Younger readers who prefer their tales of knightly valor straight up should eschew this droll, double-stranded import. Expressing doubts that King Alfred really burnt those cakes, or that Canute got wet feet, Wilson proceeds in paired cartoon panels to deliver a rhymed official rendition and a slangy factual account of how young Dave the peasant drove a fearsome beast out of Princess Peach’s bedchamber—thus, naturally, earning her hand in marriage. Dave’s quick-thinking mother expedites the process, determining that the “horrid creature” squeaks and is fond of cheese, but persuading the suspicious King Arfwitt and Queen Girdlestein that it’s a dragon nonetheless, then letting nature take its course with the young folk. Wilson outfits every character with eyeglasses, “arms” Dave with a wooden sword and a bucket for a helmet (“you look a right wally,” his mom observes), and encloses verses, dialogue and the frequent asides in balloons. Children trained to expect action on every page may find the episode a bit wordy and slow-going, but there’s certainly food for thought here, as well as an amiable, silly story. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2006
ISBN: 1-84507-496-3
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2006
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