For the same audience that took to Peter S°s’s Fire Truck (1998), a spirited little educational fantasy from Rex (The Painting Gorilla, 1997). In a very young voice, a small boy describes his work as a firefighter. He covers equipment and tactics in crisp, no-nonsense sentences: “I jump into the Pumper Engine and we’re off. The siren blares to let people know we are coming. The Aerial Ladder Truck is right behind us. We drive quickly, but very safely.” For so staccato a beat, the text is surprisingly soothing and quite authentically ingenuous. Softening the litany of fire-fighting facts (“The engine carries 750 gallons of water. That’s equal to 25 full bathtubs”) is a modest episode of heroism in which a pet snake is rescued from the flames—all in a day’s work. Adding an overall note of warmth in vivid red, yellow, and blue are Rex’s colored-pencil illustrations, a medium that here is unrivaled in its welcoming and immediate appeal. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8050-5391-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1999
Tennis pro, Vietnam vet, and intelligence operative Brad Smith, who first served in Dropshot (1990), quits an irritating job in Texas to head for Montana, where his unusual skills are needed to open a new tennis resort and locate a murderous nearby secret agent. Well, whom else would you call to clean out the spies plaguing a mysterious Air Force lab just a backhand away from a troubled tennis camp? The debt-ridden sports resort, just bought by Smith's old tennis and spying pal Ted Treacher, provides the perfect cover for Smith—the only tennis-playing spy in America capable of recognizing his old archenemy Sylvester, the Soviet spy responsible for the death of Smith's late Yugoslavian tennis- playing wife. Sylvester, operating with a completely new face fresh from the plastic surgeon, is in Big Sky country to snatch a bit of strategic-defense technology from the research lab whose powerful secret electromagnetic pulses have been giving the local children leukemia. Also neighboring the resort is a secret toxic- waste dump owned by a beautiful but ruthless capitalist hussy who wants to close down the country club so she can get her toxic wastes back. Smith has to sort out all these secrets while cleaning up the financial and managerial mess his chum has made of what should be a fabulous destination for rich tennis players. Sylvester shoots at him, a sadistic deputy shoots at him, and Ivan Lendl shoots at him. Bodies pop out of the golf course. Credibility crushed in straight sets 6-2, 6-0, 6-1.
Pub Date: June 20, 1991
ISBN: 0-312-85143-X
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1991
The world is a perilous place, or so it seems to a small cub named Alfie. This bear’s journey to the jungle playground is filled with encounters: with a snapping crocodile, undulating python, menacing jackal, and a fearsome tiger. Fortunately for Alfie, his mother accompanies him, offering reassurance and a place to hide, all the while providing useful advice, e.g., “Let the jackal run along.” Every harrowing (at least for Alfie) event is calmly resolved as the wild creatures continue on their way and Alfie is seen in the final spread cheerfully sliding down the trunk of an elephant. Children will delight in rescuing Alfie by pulling tabs that send him into his mother’s arms or behind her back when danger approaches. Clark’s vividly hued jungle habitat offers a glimpse of a unique assortment of animals not commonly seen in board books. While Alfie perceives the various creatures as threatening, Clark carefully prevents them from appearing so to readers. It may be a wild world out there, but Alfie learns that with proper care, it’s a manageable one. (Picture book. 2-5)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-531-30127-3
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
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