A riotous thigh-slapper with plenty of Toy Story in its DNA.
In a near-future “doll-eat-doll” world, three smart but defective toys join forces to escape the rubbish bin and fight crime.
Hardly have Dan, a Snugallific Cuddlestar teddy so uncontrollably strong that the hugs he is programmed to give tend to have gruesome results, and truculent Arabella, a Loadasmiles Sunshine rag doll, escaped from the Snaztacular Ultrafun factory and met up with Flax, a nattily attired police bunny missing a significant portion of his anatomy, than all three are collared by the mysterious Department of Secret Affairs to form a special “Spy Toys” unit. Their first assignment, as bodyguards for a senator’s 8-year-old son, Sam, nearly ends in catastrophe when the lad is kidnapped by Rusty Flumptrunk, an elephantine ex–cereal company mascot who’s turned crime lord, and strapped to a giant mayonnaise bomb. The tale takes an ugly turn at the climax, when the toys overcome Flumptrunk by taking advantage of his peanut allergy to leave him in a state of anaphylactic shock. Otherwise, Powers dishes up a comical romp with central characters who display brains as well as brawn and, while learning how to live with disabilities, also figure out how to leverage them to save both the lad and the local community from awful fates. Wesson’s frequent, blocky cartoon illustrations and vignettes add appropriately wacky visual notes. Human and humanoid figures are all white.
A riotous thigh-slapper with plenty of Toy Story in its DNA. (Crime comedy. 8-10)Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68119-665-7
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
Ironically, by choosing such a dramatic catalyst, the author weakens the adventure’s impact overall and leaves readers to...
A group of talking farm animals catches wind of the farm owner’s intention to burn the barn (with them in it) for insurance money and hatches a plan to flee.
Bond begins briskly—within the first 10 pages, barn cat Burdock has overheard Dewey Baxter’s nefarious plan, and by Page 17, all of the farm animals have been introduced and Burdock is sharing the terrifying news. Grady, Dewey’s (ever-so-slightly) more principled brother, refuses to go along, but instead of standing his ground, he simply disappears. This leaves the animals to fend for themselves. They do so by relying on their individual strengths and one another. Their talents and personalities match their species, bringing an element of realism to balance the fantasy elements. However, nothing can truly compensate for the bland horror of the premise. Not the growing sense of family among the animals, the serendipitous intervention of an unknown inhabitant of the barn, nor the convenient discovery of an alternate home. Meanwhile, Bond’s black-and-white drawings, justly compared to those of Garth Williams, amplify the sense of dissonance. Charming vignettes and single- and double-page illustrations create a pastoral world into which the threat of large-scale violence comes as a shock.
Ironically, by choosing such a dramatic catalyst, the author weakens the adventure’s impact overall and leaves readers to ponder the awkward coincidences that propel the plot. (Animal fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-544-33217-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2015
Another epic outing in a graphic hybrid series that continues not just to push the envelope, but tear it to shreds.
Pranksters George and Harold face the deadliest challenge of their checkered careers: a supersmart, superstrong gym teacher.
With the avowed aim of enticing an audience of “grouchy old people” to the Waistband Warrior’s latest exploit, Pilkey promises “references to health care, gardening, Bob Evans restaurants, hard candies, FOX News, and gentle-yet-effective laxatives.” He delivers, too. But lest fans of the Hanes-clad hero fret, he also stirs in plenty of fart jokes, brain-melting puns, and Flip-O-Rama throwdowns. After a meteorite transforms Mr. Meaner into a mad genius (evil, of course, because “as everyone knows, most gym teachers are inherently evil”) and he concocts a brown gas that turns children into blindly obedient homework machines, George and Harold travel into the future to enlist aid from their presumably immune adult selves. Temporarily leaving mates and children (of diverse sexes, both) behind, Old George and Old Harold come to the rescue. But Meaner has a robot suit (of course he has a robot suit), and he not only beats down the oldsters, but is only fazed for a moment when Capt. Underpants himself comes to deliver a kick to the crotch. Fortunately, gym teachers, “like toddlers,” will put anything in their mouths—so an ingestion of soda pop and Mentos at last spells doom, or more accurately: “CHeffGoal-D’BLOOOM!”
Another epic outing in a graphic hybrid series that continues not just to push the envelope, but tear it to shreds. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-545-50492-8
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2015
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