In this new author-illustrated children’s series, a young amphibian struggles to save his home and sees the world in the process.
Slippy the Salamander lives a peaceful, protected life in Salamander Village, until a band of dastardly lizards arrives, intent on taking over the town and forcing the salamanders into slavery. True to his name, Slippy manages to slip away, but he’s then left wondering how to take care of himself and how to save his family and his village from the evil lizards. This book contains the first four volumes in a series of 10 encompassing Slippy’s adventures away from home. The series is derived from a basic story that Schmidt outlined when he was just 5 years old, which is reproduced in an appendix. Reflecting its origins as a childhood invention, the narrative has a meandering quality as Slippy encounters various friends and helpers—including Sheldon the terrapin, Mrs. Bristlebottom the hedgehog, Squeeks the mouse, Diggy the Troglodyte and others—from bog and ocean to cave and mountain. Along the way, young readers will learn about various types of creatures and their habitats, but some may have trouble separating fact from fiction since Slippy and his friends also encounter dragonlike “earth-wyrms” and trolls as well as other mysterious, fantastical creatures. The cartoonish illustrations are bright and appealing, and each illustration is accompanied by a large-print caption that summarizes the main activity of that moment in the story; early readers will be able to follow along easily, while older readers will appreciate the fuller narrative and the informational, sometimes funny footnotes featured on many pages. The series does for naturalism what the Magic Tree House series did for world history: gives it an engaging story, a sympathetic protagonist and great illustrations, which should appeal to both boys and girls from a wide variety of backgrounds.
Entertaining and educational; a welcome find for parents and kids looking to get hooked on a new series.
Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2012
ISBN: 978-0985796006
Page Count: 201
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Beginning invitingly with "warm smells" of bread, rolls, cakes, tarts and cookies (and a cat perched on a red-brick oven) Walter the baker's story ends lamely when he invents the pretzel in answer to the duke's demand for a roll containing "the rising sun, the noontime sun and the setting sun" (the pretzel, Walter explains, has three holes through which the sun can shine). The splashy tissue-paper collages of coarsely comic peasant figures and a cozy half-timbered town are as pointlessly hybrid as the tale.
Pub Date: March 22, 1972
ISBN: 0689800789
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1972
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A creative story teaches children ways to be kind.
A second grade teacher uses an invented machine to teach students about kindness in a picture book by author Christina Dankert and illustrator Chad Dankert.
Cora is confused when Mr. Wilson asks the class if anybody has a superpower. “What if I told you that ALL of you have a superpower?” he asks. Mr. Wilson then unveils the latest of his “extraordinary inventions”: the Kindness Machine, a contraption with levers, buttons, springs, and a screen at the top. When a button is pressed, the screen shows “an example of how to practice kindness.” Mr. Wilson helpfully elaborates. For instance, when the screen reads “LOVE YOURSELF,” he explains that while it’s “important to be kind to others,” self-compassion is vital, too. “If you make a mistake, tell yourself that it’s okay,” he says. When Cora presses a button, the screen reads, “BE A CHEF.” Mr. Wilson says: “Kindness is like baking a cake. The ideas from the Kindness Machine are your ingredients….The real magic happens when you combine them.” The students acknowledge that kindness involves superpowerlike actions, and the next time Mr. Wilson asks if anybody has a superpower, everyone raises a hand. Mr. Wilson’s examples of kindness are practical and easy to apply, such as offering smiles and compliments. Christina Dankert, a second grade teacher, writes from experience, and Chad Dankert gives his digitized full-color pictures a fun, cartoonlike quality. Cora has dark skin and interacts with classmates who have diverse skin tones, and a helpful list of discussion questions encourages children to think further about what they’ve read.
A creative story teaches children ways to be kind.Pub Date: March 22, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-955119-08-5
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Purple Butterfly Press
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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