A lively but uneven pirate adventure.
A teenager takes over as pirate captain and embarks on a mission to get her retired father some cookies in this swashbuckling tale for elementary students.
When Captain Bluebeard decides to retire, he turns over the helm to his daughter, Arabelle, a pink-haired teen with a goth fashion style. Bluebeard has one request: “Please bring me back a cookie stack / Or maybe five and two. / Oat and raisin, with touch of rum, / Like the ones your momma baked for you.” Arabelle sets off to sea with her father’s crew, which quickly transfers its loyalty to her, proclaiming her the queen of the seas. The voyage to the “black magic woman” is a simple one, but the return home is fraught with peril, made worse by an encounter with a kraken. Not one to back down, Arabelle pledges to make a stand—until the kraken explains he’ll trade treasure for some of those delicious-smelling cookies. That problem solved, Arabelle faces a storm and a cookie thief before returning home triumphant. Mammonek’s rhyming pirate yarn follows the grand tradition of tall tales at sea, and the cookies are a humorous central plot point that causes all of the crew’s woes. But the rhyming text scans unevenly, and the words sometimes feel anachronistic, as when Bluebeard wants to “play golf, and chill,” or are simply incorrect (The rain “seized to pour”). The author’s computer-generated images are brightly colored and full of action. The shiny texture gives the characters a doll-like quality, and the Chtulu-like kraken is appropriately frightening yet not nightmarish enough to worry young readers. Unfortunately, the illustrations frequently seem at odds with the poetry. The bird and monkey that are Arabelle’s constant companions are never named, and the pictured mermaids are not mentioned in the text. A strange final image of Bluebeard on the ground makes him look injured rather than distraught about missing cookies, and the “black magic woman” is problematically the only dark-skinned character featured in the story.
A lively but uneven pirate adventure.Pub Date: May 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5255-7020-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: July 24, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Dizzyingly silly.
The famous superhero returns to fight another villain with all the trademark wit and humor the series is known for.
Despite the title, Captain Underpants is bizarrely absent from most of this adventure. His school-age companions, George and Harold, maintain most of the spotlight. The creative chums fool around with time travel and several wacky inventions before coming upon the evil Turbo Toilet 2000, making its return for vengeance after sitting out a few of the previous books. When the good Captain shows up to save the day, he brings with him dynamic action and wordplay that meet the series’ standards. The Captain Underpants saga maintains its charm even into this, the 11th volume. The epic is filled to the brim with sight gags, toilet humor, flip-o-ramas and anarchic glee. Holding all this nonsense together is the author’s good-natured sense of harmless fun. The humor is never gross or over-the-top, just loud and innocuous. Adults may roll their eyes here and there, but youngsters will eat this up just as quickly as they devoured every other Underpants episode.
Dizzyingly silly. (Humor. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-50490-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
A welcome, well-researched reflection of cultural pride in the early-reader landscape.
The fourth installment in Delacre’s early-reader series centers on the rich musical traditions of Puerto Rico, once again featuring sibling tree frogs Rafi and Rosi Coquí.
Readers learn along with Rafi and Rosi as they explore bomba, plena, and salsa in three chapters. A glossary at the beginning sets readers up well to understand the Spanish vocabulary, including accurate phoneticization for non-Spanish speakers. The stories focus on Rafi and Rosi’s relationship within a musical context. For example, in one chapter Rafi finds out that he attracts a larger audience playing his homemade güiro with Rosi’s help even though he initially excluded her: “Big brothers only.” Even when he makes mistakes, as the older brother, Rafi consoles Rosi when she is embarrassed or angry at him. In each instance, their shared joy for music and dance ultimately shines through any upsets—a valuable reflection of unity. Informational backmatter and author’s sources are extensive. Undoubtedly these will help teachers, librarians, and parents to develop Puerto Rican cultural programs, curriculum, or home activities to extend young readers’ learning. The inclusion of instructions to make one’s own homemade güiro is a thoughtful addition. The Spanish translation, also by Delacre and published simultaneously, will require a more advanced reader than the English one to recognize and comprehend contractions (“pa’bajo-pa-pa’rriba”) and relatively sophisticated vocabulary.
A welcome, well-researched reflection of cultural pride in the early-reader landscape. (Early reader. 7-9)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-89239-429-6
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Children's Book Press
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
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