A sweet Christmas coming-of-age tale.
Depner’s fourth installment of her Fernsnickle Hooves children’s book series sends her protagonist on a holiday adventure.
As part of a high school memoir assignment, 16-year-old Fernsnickle reflects on the most transformative year of her life, when she was 10: her first Christmas in Connecticut. As soon as she arrived at Snowenbloke Farmhouse from Miami, she was immersed in the quaint, nostalgic charm of a rural New England holiday, complete with snow and sleigh bells. However, no Fernsnickle tale would be complete without a dash of complexity. Elated to support her dear friend Mrs. Peabody’s upcoming marriage, Fernsnickle watched in shock as the re-emergence of her pal’s former love nearly derailed the nuptials. Greater still was her dismay when her best friend, Alison, fell for Fernsnickle’s own crush, Toby, who appeared to reciprocate Alison’s love. Determined to be a strong, confident young woman, Fernsnickle worked to put aside her feelings for Toby, and her angst toward Alison, to support Mrs. Peabody on her special day. Along the way, she discovered her skill at clothing design, a gift that played a precious role in her life to come. Though her first time at Snowenbloke Farmhouse shows her that relationships are not always easy, happy endings abound for most characters, as do lessons. Fernsnickle learns about the value of forgiveness and sees that life and love are full of wonderful surprises. Depner effectively ushers readers through a consistently paced, heartwarming tale, enveloping them in the cozy charm of a snowy New England holiday. With each falling snowflake, adolescent readers will delight in the machinations of a playful hero with plenty of heart. She’s shown to be smart and caring, with a flair for the dramatic—a positive role model for modern youth as she prioritizes her friends, family, and future over negativity and strife. Best of all, Fernsnickle also pursues her passion, showing readers that they, too, can be fun, sassy, and successful, all at the same time.
A sweet Christmas coming-of-age tale.Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2022
ISBN: 9798848566383
Page Count: 141
Publisher: Jelliroll, Inc
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Fans both young and formerly young will be pleased—100 percent.
Published in magazines, never seen since / Now resurrected for pleasure intense / Versified episodes numbering four / Featuring Marco, and Horton and more!
All of the entries in this follow-up to The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories (2011) involve a certain amount of sharp dealing. Horton carries a Kwuggerbug through crocodile-infested waters and up a steep mountain because “a deal is a deal”—and then is cheated out of his promised share of delicious Beezlenuts. Officer Pat heads off escalating, imagined disasters on Mulberry Street by clubbing a pesky gnat. Marco (originally met on that same Mulberry Street) concocts a baroque excuse for being late to school. In the closer, a smooth-talking Grinch (not the green sort) sells a gullible Hoobub a piece of string. In a lively introduction, uber-fan Charles D. Cohen (The Seuss, The Whole Seuss, and Nothing but the Seuss, 2002) provides publishing histories, places characters and settings in Seussian context, and offers insights into, for instance, the origin of “Grinch.” Along with predictably engaging wordplay—“He climbed. He grew dizzy. His ankles grew numb. / But he climbed and he climbed and he clum and he clum”—each tale features bright, crisply reproduced renditions of its original illustrations. Except for “The Hoobub and the Grinch,” which has been jammed into a single spread, the verses and pictures are laid out in spacious, visually appealing ways.
Fans both young and formerly young will be pleased—100 percent. (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-385-38298-4
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Alert readers will find the implicit morals: know your audience, mostly, but also never underestimate the power of “rock”...
The theme of persistence (for better or worse) links four tales of magic, trickery, and near disasters.
Lachenmeyer freely borrows familiar folkloric elements, subjecting them to mildly comical twists. In the nearly wordless “Hip Hop Wish,” a frog inadvertently rubs a magic lamp and finds itself saddled with an importunate genie eager to shower it with inappropriate goods and riches. In the title tale, an increasingly annoyed music-hating witch transforms a persistent minstrel into a still-warbling cow, horse, sheep, goat, pig, duck, and rock in succession—then is horrified to catch herself humming a tune. Athesius the sorcerer outwits Warthius, a rival trying to steal his spells via a parrot, by casting silly ones in Ig-pay Atin-lay in the third episode, and in the finale, a painter’s repeated efforts to create a flattering portrait of an ogre king nearly get him thrown into a dungeon…until he suddenly understands what an ogre’s idea of “flattering” might be. The narratives, dialogue, and sound effects leave plenty of elbow room in Blocker’s big, brightly colored panels for the expressive animal and human(ish) figures—most of the latter being light skinned except for the golden genie, the blue ogre, and several people of color in the “Sorcerer’s New Pet.”
Alert readers will find the implicit morals: know your audience, mostly, but also never underestimate the power of “rock” music. (Graphic short stories. 8-10)Pub Date: June 18, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-59643-750-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
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