A wise and gentle tale about the necessity of mischief to distract us from ourselves.
Be careful what you claim to disbelieve. It may be listening.
Jem has been overflowing with anger ever since his mother moved him and his little sister, Verity, from the city to the country, far from their old life and friends. As his unhappiness mounts, strange things begin happening: Jem discovers his shoes filled with chestnuts; the family’s clothing is shredded. Verity blames a “nouka,” a mysterious being said to live in the nearby hill. Jem’s frustrations build until one day he declares, “I don’t believe in the nouka!” These words trigger the local nouka, a furry black creature who does indeed exist and who likes warm fires and pranks—and who turns its attention to the boy, ramping up the misdeeds. For Jem, accepting his new home means also accepting the existence of the nouka, twin problems for a boy determined to be sad and serious. In this lengthy picture book, delicate watercolors illuminate the quiet beauty of the countryside, imbuing both Jem’s slowly dawning wonder and the nouka’s tiny world with magic and poignance. Acclaimed adult novelist O’Farrell’s language is marked by elegant turns of phrase, as when Jem is described as feeling “so low and listless, sitting there, as if his insides had been stuffed with damp rags.” The characters present white. This U.K. import closes with music and lyrics to “The Song of the Nouka,” based on the Irish jig “Seanduine Dóite.”
A wise and gentle tale about the necessity of mischief to distract us from ourselves. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781536233933
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Walker US/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books.
Curious about the Big Wide World outside his Sasquatch community, Hugo makes a friend who is of it.
Sasquatch Hugo’s bedroom is inside a cave and possesses the charming feature of a small stream running through it that he can sail his little toy boat on. It’s cool, but he yearns to see the Big Wide World. When he asks his smart friend Gigi if a Sasquatch might become a sailor, she says it’s possible but would be difficult—the primary rule of their people is to not be seen by Humans. Then, in everyone’s favorite Hide and Go Sneak class, which is held outside, a Human appears; Hugo laughs at the sight, drawing Human attention in a taboo-breaking mistake. Shortly after, Hugo’s toy boat floats into the cave with a Human toy—soon, it’s facilitating a pen-pal–type relationship that’s derailed when Hugo confesses to being a Sasquatch and Human Boone, a budding cryptozoologist, doesn’t believe him. How Hugo and Boone resolve this misapprehension and become friends in a joint search for the Ogopogo concludes this series opener. Potter keeps the third-person narrative tightly focused on Hugo’s perspective, and the details she uses to flesh out the Sasquatch world are delightfully playful. Sala’s drawings depict a homey Sasquatch cavern community, Boone as a freckled, white boy, and Hugo as a hairily benevolent behemoth.
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books. (final art unseen) (Fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2859-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
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