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THE SEVEN CHINESE BROTHERS

Name: THE SEVEN CHINESE BROTHERS
Author: Margaret Mahy
ISBN: 0590420577

by Margaret Mahy & illustrated by Mou-sien Tseng ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1990

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The folk tale made familiar in Bishop's The Five Chinese Brothers (1938) is here in a more expansive version linking it to the tyrannical emperor who planned the Great Wall. In Mahy's nicely cadenced, economical telling, the different talents of the seven brothers are neatly woven into the story's fabric to make a pleasing variety in the events—which turn on the Wall and its construction—and to escalate the suspense; in the denouement, the callous emperor receives poetic justice when he is washed away by the youngest brother's tears. The Tsengs' attractive, realistic watercolors are beautifully evocative of the Chinese landscape, lively and humorous in depicting characters and action. Not a replacement for Bishop but a complement to it, for older children and with more authentic illustrations.

Pub Date: April 1, 1990

ISBN: 0590420577

Page Count: 44

Publisher: Scholastic

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1990

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
BOOM, BABY, BOOM BOOM!
by Margaret Mahy ; illustrated by Margaret Chamberlain

- BOOK REVIEW
THE GREEN BATH
by Margaret Mahy ; illustrated by Steven Kellogg

- BOOK REVIEW
MISTER WHISTLER
by Margaret Mahy ; illustrated by Gavin Bishop

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JAKE THE FAKE KEEPS IT REAL

From the Jake the Fake series , Vol. 1

by Craig Robinson & Adam Mansbach ; illustrated by Keith Knight ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 28, 2017

A fast and funny alternative to the Wimpy Kid.

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Black sixth-grader Jake Liston can only play one song on the piano. He can’t read music very well, and he can’t improvise. So how did Jake get accepted to the Music and Art Academy? He faked it.

Alongside an eclectic group of academy classmates, and with advice from his best friend, Jake tries to fit in at a school where things like garbage sculpting and writing art reviews of bird poop splatter are the norm. All is well until Jake discovers that the end-of-the-semester talent show is only two weeks away, and Jake is short one very important thing…talent. Or is he? It’s up to Jake to either find the talent that lies within or embarrass himself in front of the entire school. Light and humorous, with Knight’s illustrations adding to the fun, Jake’s story will likely appeal to many middle-grade readers, especially those who might otherwise be reluctant to pick up a book. While the artsy antics may be over-the-top at times, this is a story about something that most preteens can relate to: the struggle to find your authentic self. And in a world filled with books about wanting to fit in with the athletically gifted supercliques, this novel unabashedly celebrates the artsy crowd in all of its quirky, creative glory.

A fast and funny alternative to the Wimpy Kid. (Fiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: March 28, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-553-52351-5

Page Count: 144

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

AND TO THINK THAT I SAW IT ON MULBERRY STREET

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AND TO THINK THAT I SAW IT ON MULBERRY STREET

illustrated by Dr. Seuss ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 28, 1937

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I really don't think this is a juvenile at all. But since it is being sold as such, I suppose it belongs here, for it is at this particular age that telling tall tales becomes a favorite sport. A small boy has promised not to tell lies. And this is the story of a story and how it grew. The underlying humor is quite adult.