For gross-out fans only, but they’ll find it funny and full of action.
Once again, the brave mayor of Fartville defends his citizens from would-be invaders in Shah’s (Adult Coloring Book Horror Land: Entrapment, 2017, etc.) middle-grade series installment.
Mayor Fart and his allies Rumbly Fart, Loud Fart, and Quiet Fart join forces to conquer the evil wizard Severe Cold and his Booger army. The Boogers, who “are good people deep down,” accept their defeat and make amends by cleaning up various snot-covered areas. Severe Cold reveals, under threat, that he’s been working with Mayor Burp, who’s still power-hungry despite the treaty that’s allowed Fartville and Burpville to share Gas Mountain peacefully. Mayor Burps is supposed to be in jail, but Mayor Fart learns, upon returning to Fartville, that he’s mysteriously escaped. An inspection reveals a strange hole in the cell floor that swells and turns into a Pimple. More follow, which leads to messy, smelly clashes between Pimples, Farts, and Boogers. Then Mayor Burp arrives, riding a huge Pimple, and announces his takeover plans. But when he calls the Pimples disgusting, they take offense and decide that maybe they should just take over Fartville themselves. Mayor Fart devises a bold plan to save the day by raiding the old Fart Armory, which is now a museum. Shah again engages in the nonstop, deliberately disgusting humor that’s a hallmark of this series, which won’t be to every reader’s taste. A slightly more mature style of humor is seen in occasional pop-culture references, though, such as a nod to the 1983 movie Scarface: “I guess I’ll just have to conjure another brainwashing spell. Say hello to my little friend,” snarls Severe Cold. Some may also find it a little unfair to put disfiguring acne in the same category as farts, burps, and boogers, giving this book a slightly mean undertone, considering that the book’s older middle-school audience may be afflicted: “Yo, Pimple Cyst. Quick! Go in like you’re hiding under the skin of a gross Fart teen,” encourages one fighter.
For gross-out fans only, but they’ll find it funny and full of action.Pub Date: May 6, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943684-56-4
Page Count: 60
Publisher: 99 Pages or Less Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The seemingly ageless Seeger brings back his renowned giant for another go in a tuneful tale that, like the art, is a bit sketchy, but chockful of worthy messages. Faced with yearly floods and droughts since they’ve cut down all their trees, the townsfolk decide to build a dam—but the project is stymied by a boulder that is too huge to move. Call on Abiyoyo, suggests the granddaughter of the man with the magic wand, then just “Zoop Zoop” him away again. But the rock that Abiyoyo obligingly flings aside smashes the wand. How to avoid Abiyoyo’s destruction now? Sing the monster to sleep, then make it a peaceful, tree-planting member of the community, of course. Seeger sums it up in a postscript: “every community must learn to manage its giants.” Hays, who illustrated the original (1986), creates colorful, if unfinished-looking, scenes featuring a notably multicultural human cast and a towering Cubist fantasy of a giant. The song, based on a Xhosa lullaby, still has that hard-to-resist sing-along potential, and the themes of waging peace, collective action, and the benefits of sound ecological practices are presented in ways that children will both appreciate and enjoy. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83271-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
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