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MR. BALL

Name: MR. BALL
Author: Michael Townsend
ISBN: 978-1-60905-458-8

AN EGG-CELLENT ADVENTURE

From the Mr. Ball series

by Michael Townsend ; illustrated by Michael Townsend ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 9, 2014

Expect more from this Pac Man–esque hero and his band of friends.

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Mr. Ball’s egg-cellent adventure just may leave him cracked.

Mr. Ball, a big, yellow smiling ball with short arms and legs, and his friends, a hen, a turtle and Dr. Dog, along with Mr. Ball’s pet cat, Ms. Kitty Cow, head off to the circus. Mr. Ball is hoping for some wild, scary entertainment; he is unimpressed until the lion tamer steps into the ring. Everyone’s sad when the circus ends, so they decide to hold their own. Each picks an act to perform. Mr. Ball decides he’ll trap and tame a fire-breathing “tweety blob” bird, despite his friends’ warnings. When he is trapped in the tweety blob’s nest by a mama bird who thinks he’s one of her babies, Mr. Ball needs his friends to rescue him. Good thing Ms. Kitty Cow is there to “Moo-ow!” for help. Townsend’s first Mr. Ball adventure stretches over four chapters, plus prologue and afterword. It’s told in graphic panels with easy-to-read narrative captions. Visual gags in the panels and simple, declarative sentences will encourage repeat readings. The chewed-up worms at feeding time in the nest and the many pie fights won’t hurt re-readability either.

Expect more from this Pac Man–esque hero and his band of friends. (Graphic fantasy. 5-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-60905-458-8

Page Count: 88

Publisher: Blue Apple

Review Posted Online: June 28, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
MR. BALL MAKES A TO-DO LIST
by Michael Townsend ; illustrated by Michael Townsend

- BOOK REVIEW
CUTE & CUTER
by Michael Townsend ; illustrated by Michael Townsend

- BOOK REVIEW
WHERE DO PRESIDENTS COME FROM?
by Michael Townsend & illustrated by Michael Townsend

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IMANI'S MOON

by JaNay Brown-Wood ; illustrated by Hazel Mitchell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 14, 2014

While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child...

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Imani endures the insults heaped upon her by the other village children, but she never gives up her dreams.

The Masai girl is tiny compared to the other children, but she is full of imagination and perseverance. Luckily, she has a mother who believes in her and tells her stories that will fuel that imagination. Mama tells her about the moon goddess, Olapa, who wins over the sun god. She tells Imani about Anansi, the trickster spider who vanquishes a larger snake. (Troublingly, the fact that Anansi is a West African figure, not of the Masai, goes unaddressed in both text and author’s note.) Inspired, the tiny girl tries to find new ways to achieve her dream: to touch the moon. One day, after crashing to the ground yet again when her leafy wings fail, she is ready to forget her hopes. That night, she witnesses the adumu, the special warriors’ jumping dance. Imani wakes the next morning, determined to jump to the moon. After jumping all day, she reaches the moon, meets Olapa and receives a special present from the goddess, a small moon rock. Now she becomes the storyteller when she relates her adventure to Mama. The watercolor-and-graphite illustrations have been enhanced digitally, and the night scenes of storytelling and fantasy with their glowing stars and moons have a more powerful impact than the daytime scenes, with their blander colors.

While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child to be admired. (Picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-934133-57-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Mackinac Island Press

Review Posted Online: July 28, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THIS HAIR BELONGS
by JaNay Brown-Wood ; illustrated by Erin K. Robinson

- BOOK REVIEW
SCIENTISTS LIKE ME
by Kamin Science Center & JaNay Brown-Wood ; illustrated by Kristen Uroda

- BOOK REVIEW
ON OUR WAY! WHAT A DAY!
by JaNay Brown-Wood ; illustrated by Tamisha Anthony

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SNOW PLACE LIKE HOME

From the Diary of an Ice Princess series

by Christina Soontornvat ; illustrated by Barbara Szepesi Szucs ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 25, 2019

A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre.

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Ice princess Lina must navigate family and school in this early chapter read.

The family picnic is today. This is not a typical gathering, since Lina’s maternal relatives are a royal family of Windtamers who have power over the weather and live in castles floating on clouds. Lina herself is mixed race, with black hair and a tan complexion like her Asian-presenting mother’s; her Groundling father appears to be a white human. While making a grand entrance at the castle of her grandfather, the North Wind, she fails to successfully ride a gust of wind and crashes in front of her entire family. This prompts her stern grandfather to ask that Lina move in with him so he can teach her to control her powers. Desperate to avoid this, Lina and her friend Claudia, who is black, get Lina accepted at the Hilltop Science and Arts Academy. Lina’s parents allow her to go as long as she does lessons with grandpa on Saturdays. However, fitting in at a Groundling school is rough, especially when your powers start freak winter storms! With the story unfurling in diary format, bright-pink–highlighted grayscale illustrations help move the plot along. There are slight gaps in the storytelling and the pacing is occasionally uneven, but Lina is full of spunk and promotes self-acceptance.

A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre. (Fantasy. 5-8)