Fans of trickster stories will appreciate this clever rendition featuring American desert animals.
A familiar folktale gets a new Southwestern setting in this picture book.
Woodrat’s larder is almost empty, and even though hunting for his family under the full moon in the desert is dangerous, he decides to go out for supplies. It’s not long before Coyote catches him and traps him beneath a paw. Mixing techniques from the Brer Rabbit stories and "The Billy Goats Gruff," Woodrat baits Coyote with images of his “sweet wife, bless her roly-poly self, and my chubby little children, all ten of them.” Then he begs for mercy, asking Coyote not to throw him into the prickly, dangerous cholla patch. Readers familiar with these tales will be quick to recognize that the cholla patch is exactly where Woodrat and his family will be safe, but youngsters encountering this type of story for the first time will enjoy Severson’s adroit use of suspense until Coyote gets his just deserts. Italian fine artist Orazzini’s paintings deftly capture the nighttime hues of the desert, although the clothing choices (bandannas around Woodrat’s head and Coyote’s neck) feel superfluous. The cartoonish animals have an abundance of personality, and Coyote is wicked but never overly scary for young lap readers. Severson, who is also a novelist and performance storyteller, uses fairly dense text with some challenging vocabulary for newly independent readers (“precious,” “shriveled”). But the tale’s smooth flow will beautifully aid adults reading the book aloud.
Fans of trickster stories will appreciate this clever rendition featuring American desert animals.Pub Date: Feb. 9, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-947408-06-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: The Small-Tooth Dog Publishing Group
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Dolphin lovers will appreciate this look at our complicated relationship with these marine mammals.
Is dolphin-assisted therapy so beneficial to patients that it’s worth keeping a wild dolphin captive?
Twelve-year-old Lily has lived with her emotionally distant oncologist stepfather and a succession of nannies since her mother died in a car accident two years ago. Nannies leave because of the difficulty of caring for Adam, Lily’s severely autistic 4-year-old half brother. The newest, Suzanne, seems promising, but Lily is tired of feeling like a planet orbiting the sun Adam. When she meets blind Zoe, who will attend the same private middle school as Lily in the fall, Lily’s happy to have a friend. However, Zoe’s take on the plight of the captive dolphin, Nori, used in Adam’s therapy opens Lily’s eyes. She knows she must use her influence over her stepfather, who is consulting on Nori’s treatment for cancer (caused by an oil spill), to free the animal. Lily’s got several fine lines to walk, as she works to hold onto her new friend, convince her stepfather of the rightness of releasing Nori, and do what’s best for Adam. In her newest exploration of animal-human relationships, Rorby’s lonely, mature heroine faces tough but realistic situations. Siblings of children on the spectrum will identify with Lily. If the tale flirts with sentimentality and some of the characters are strident in their views, the whole never feels maudlin or didactic.
Dolphin lovers will appreciate this look at our complicated relationship with these marine mammals. (Fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: May 26, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-545-67605-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
An optimistic journey of self-acceptance.
Debut author Machias’ novel explores genderfluidity and gender nonconformity as elements of navigating middle school.
Told in two alternating narrative voices, the story follows Ash and Daniel, a pair of Ohio seventh graders who are on a shared mission to rescue an old dog the world doesn’t seem to have room for, a not-so-subtle metaphor highlighting the vulnerabilities faced by all abandoned souls. Throughout their growing kinship, Ash and Daniel struggle with the divergent expectations of those around them: Ash with shifting gender presentations and Daniel with his emotionality and sensitivity. Entering a new school and feeling pressured to pick and disclose a single gender, Ash’s conflicts begin with trying to decide whether to use the boys’, girls’, or gender-neutral bathroom. The school’s diverse Rainbow Alliance is a source of support, but Ash’s parents remain split by more than divorce, with a supportive mom and a dad who tries but fails to understand genderfluidity. Daniel, who has a talent for photography, is a passionate animal lover who volunteers at a local kennel and initially believes Ash is a girl. Ash’s synesthesia amplifies the tension as Ash and Daniel discover a mutual romantic interest. The novel grapples with the impact of society’s overly simplistic messages, but the characterizations at times lack depth, and there are missed opportunities to explore the subtleties of relationships. Main characters are White.
An optimistic journey of self-acceptance. (Fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: June 8, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-305389-2
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
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