A visual gimmick to be sure, but it’s put to particularly effective use.
An intrepid explorer follows up his Jim Curious: Voyage to the Heart of the Sea (2014) with a new outing in this wordless 3-D French import.
Two furnished pairs of card-stock eyeglasses allow viewers to follow as Jim steps through a mirror in his room and finds himself in a lush prehistoric swamp, which gives way through a pleasing variety of big, full-page scenes and large sequential panels to a dark contemporary forest that conceals tumbled stone ruins. The trek takes a (more) surreal turn then, as, after climbing a rugged hill, he finds himself walking over a sea bed, past sunken ships and detritus. He ends up back in his own little house, which, he discovers in a climactic double gatefold, is now surrounded with some of the tropical flora and fauna he encountered on his way. Most of the art is blurry to the naked eye, but the glasses reveal multiple depths and layers as well as deep shadows, flights of birds and insects in fore- and backgrounds, and a mysterious silvery shimmer. This shows itself to best effect in a double-page-spread swirl of moths and butterflies and, later, a gallery of apes and monkeys from various parts of the globe. Readers will find themselves flipping back and forth to revisit particularly memorable images: vine-enshrouded pyramids rising high above the forest; Jim placidly walking toward them as an enormous tortoise looms behind. As before, Jim is entirely enclosed in what looks like a heavy antique diving suit, his pale, smiling visage visible through the face shield.
A visual gimmick to be sure, but it’s put to particularly effective use. (Novelty. 6-9)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3620-9
Page Count: 60
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
What a wag.
What do you get from sewing the head of a smart dog onto the body of a tough police officer? A new superhero from the incorrigible creator of Captain Underpants.
Finding a stack of old Dog Mancomics that got them in trouble back in first grade, George and Harold decide to craft a set of new(ish) adventures with (more or less) improved art and spelling. These begin with an origin tale (“A Hero Is Unleashed”), go on to a fiendish attempt to replace the chief of police with a “Robo Chief” and then a temporarily successful scheme to make everyone stupid by erasing all the words from every book (“Book ’Em, Dog Man”), and finish off with a sort of attempted alien invasion evocatively titled “Weenie Wars: The Franks Awaken.” In each, Dog Man squares off against baddies (including superinventor/archnemesis Petey the cat) and saves the day with a clever notion. With occasional pauses for Flip-O-Rama featurettes, the tales are all framed in brightly colored sequential panels with hand-lettered dialogue (“How do you feel, old friend?” “Ruff!”) and narrative. The figures are studiously diverse, with police officers of both genders on view and George, the chief, and several other members of the supporting cast colored in various shades of brown. Pilkey closes as customary with drawing exercises, plus a promise that the canine crusader will be further unleashed in a sequel.
What a wag. (Graphic fantasy. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-58160-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Models attention to detail and deductive reasoning in a fun beach setting, complete with interesting facts.
Beachcombers and shell seekers, gather ’round and meet Shelby and Watts, Planetary Investigators.
When Fred the hermit crab can’t find a new, larger shell to move into, he seeks out the “brilliant brains” of Shelby and Watts. Shelby, a fox, is the detective in the duo, and Watts, a badger, loves facts, adding simple fun ones—about hermit crabs, tides, tide-pool dwellers, how shells are used, etc.—throughout the story. Watts also loves to catalog clues in his notebook. In fact, the first mystery that Shelby solves is that of Watts’ lost notebook. Young readers can watch Shelby investigate, solve, and explain her deductive process, all while learning to carefully examine all the details in each graphic panel. Once the missing shells are found, it’s “time for the hermit crab shuffle,” in which the members of a colony of hermit crabs all line up and trade up to larger homes. Final pages include “Earth-Saving Tips from Shelby & Watts,” such as taking pictures of shells instead of collecting them, eating seafood from sustainable sources, and cleaning up the beach. The seven chapters are of varying length, but with several one-panel pages and many pages with low word count, the book is shorter than it appears, which should be a confidence boost for young readers. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Models attention to detail and deductive reasoning in a fun beach setting, complete with interesting facts. (Graphic early reader/mystery. 6-9)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-20531-0
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
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