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A TRIO OF TOLERABLE TALES

Name: A TRIO OF TOLERABLE TALES
Author: Margaret Atwood
ISBN: 978-1-55498-933-1

by Margaret Atwood ; illustrated by Dušan Petričić ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 16, 2017

Fine exercise for stretching linguistic muscles; great fun for reading aloud.

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Atwood lets four letters of the alphabet assume starring roles in these three alliterative stories—R and W each in its own, with B and D sharing the limelight in another.

In each short, scintillating serving of silliness, a child prevails against dire circumstances of his or her situation through luck and perseverance. Rude Ramsay seeks refuge from his rowdy family and finds a real friend, Rillah, in a romantic rectory. Bob, a boy raised by a boxer, a beagle, and a borzoi, is taught to speak by Dorinda, a girl neglected by distant relatives. Wenda and her companion woodchuck work with three waifs—Wilkinson, Wu, and Wanapitai—to escape a wicked wizard who has held them all captive. Ramping up the humor and a tall-tale exuberance are: missing parents; disasters; villainous relatives and just plain bad adults; friendly rats and wolves and those resourceful dogs; plus icky food combinations (“wormy whitefish, withered whortleberries”). All are nicely matched by Petricic’s lively, cartoony, black-and-white illustrations. Rillah, Bob, and Wenda are depicted in the illustrations with pale skin, while Ramsay has slightly darker skin and Dorinda could have one black parent, and in an illustration of Wilkinson, Wu, and Wanapitai, one waif has Asian features and another has dark hair. The exaggerated humor and outlandish situations call to mind Roald Dahl, but the hilarity in this alliterative tour de force is all its own.

Fine exercise for stretching linguistic muscles; great fun for reading aloud. (Fiction. 7-10)

Pub Date: May 16, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-55498-933-1

Page Count: 68

Publisher: Groundwood

Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
BASHFUL BOB AND DOLEFUL DORINDA
by Margaret Atwood & illustrated by Dušan Petričić

- BOOK REVIEW
RUDE RAMSAY AND THE ROARING RADISHES
by Margaret Atwood & illustrated by Dušan Petričić

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LITTLE DAYMOND LEARNS TO EARN

by Daymond John ; illustrated by Nicole Miles ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 21, 2023

It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.

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How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!

John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)

Pub Date: March 21, 2023

ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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HORRIBLE HARRY SAYS GOODBYE

From the Horrible Harry series , Vol. 37

by Suzy Kline ; illustrated by Amy Wummer ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 27, 2018

A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.

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A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.

Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.

A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)