by Mark Summers ; illustrated by Mark Summers ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2016
A nostalgic piece that, however beautiful, seems wasted on this age group. (Picture book. 5-8)
A nostalgic riddle: what horse is this?
"Every day I stand next to a mirror, but I have never seen myself in it." The eponymous horse describes charging up San Juan Hill, starring in spaghetti Westerns, winning the Derby and medaling in "every Olympics. Always." The horse has traveled thousands of miles but never ended up more than 30 feet away from where it started—because, of course, it's a carousel horse. Readers who have any familiarity with merry-go-rounds will have probably identified it before cracking the cover, on which prances a carousel horse in all its carven glory, lacking only a pole. This quibble aside, the riddle is clever, but it seems designed to appeal more to adults than children, who likely won't understand the references to Teddy Roosevelt or feel the same sense of a historic past. Likewise, the textured scratchboard-and–oil wash illustrations, in a muted palette and set against lots of white space, are lovely but seem deliberately old-fashioned, almost static, and not child-friendly at all. Every rider and every child depicted is white. The idea here isn't bad, but it's slight enough that it might have worked better as a magazine piece.
A nostalgic piece that, however beautiful, seems wasted on this age group. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-56846-291-2
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Creative Editions/Creative Company
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
Share your opinion of this book
More by Mark Summers
BOOK REVIEW
by Mark Summers ; Aaron Frisch & illustrated by Mark Summers
by Tedd Arnold ; illustrated by Tedd Arnold ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2013
A first-rate sharkfest, unusually nutritious for all its brevity.
Buzz and his buzzy buddy open a spinoff series of nonfiction early readers with an aquarium visit.
Buzz: “Like other fish, sharks breathe through gills.” Fly Guy: “GILLZZ.” Thus do the two pop-eyed cartoon tour guides squire readers past a plethora of cramped but carefully labeled color photos depicting dozens of kinds of sharks in watery settings, along with close-ups of skin, teeth and other anatomical features. In the bite-sized blocks of narrative text, challenging vocabulary words like “carnivores” and “luminescence” come with pronunciation guides and lucid in-context definitions. Despite all the flashes of dentifrice and references to prey and smelling blood in the water, there is no actual gore or chowing down on display. Sharks are “so cool!” proclaims Buzz at last, striding out of the gift shop. “I can’t wait for our next field trip!” (That will be Fly Guy Presents: Space, scheduled for September 2013.)
A first-rate sharkfest, unusually nutritious for all its brevity. (Informational easy reader. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-50771-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
Share your opinion of this book
More In The Series
by Tedd Arnold ; illustrated by Tedd Arnold
by Tedd Arnold ; illustrated by Tedd Arnold
by Tedd Arnold ; illustrated by Tedd Arnold
More by Tedd Arnold
BOOK REVIEW
by Tedd Arnold , Martha Hamilton & Mitch Weiss ; illustrated by Tedd Arnold
BOOK REVIEW
by Tedd Arnold ; illustrated by Tedd Arnold
BOOK REVIEW
by Tedd Arnold & Martha Hamilton & Mitch Weiss ; illustrated by Tedd Arnold
by Jordan Quinn ; illustrated by Robert McPhillips ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2014
A gentle adventure that sets the stage for future quests.
A lonely prince gains a friend for a quest to find a missing jewel.
Prince Lucas of Wrenly has everything a boy could possibly want—except a friend. His father has forbidden him to play with the village children for reasons of propriety. Adventure-seeking Lucas acquires peasant clothes to masquerade as a commoner and make friends, but he is caught out. His mother, the queen, persuades the king to allow him one friend: Clara, the daughter of her personal dressmaker. When the queen’s prized emerald pendant goes missing, Lucas and Clara set off to find it. They follow the jewel as it changes hands, interviewing each temporary owner. Their adventure cleverly introduces the series’ world and peoples, taking the children to the fairy island of Primlox, the trolls’ home of Burth, the wizard island of Hobsgrove and finally Mermaid’s Cove. By befriending the mermaids, Lucas and Clara finally recover the jewel. In thanks, the king gives Clara a horse of her own so that she may ride with Lucas on their future adventures. The third-person narration is generally unobtrusive, allowing the characters to take center stage. The charming, medieval-flavored illustrations set the fairy-tale scene and take up enough page space that new and reluctant readers won’t be overwhelmed by text.
A gentle adventure that sets the stage for future quests. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-9691-0
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2014
Share your opinion of this book
More by Jordan Quinn
BOOK REVIEW
by Jordan Quinn ; illustrated by Glass House Graphics
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.