An earnest introduction to environmentalism for burgeoning chapter-book readers.
A young mermaid joins the human world.
Mari, the nonconforming, adventurous daughter of King Triton and Queen Sirena, shares many similarities with Disney’s Ariel—though Mari’s initially afraid of the ocean’s surface. (Ariel doesn’t appear in the book.) Mari gets wrapped up in her creative projects, which range from choreographing dances for crabs to painting portraits of her hundreds of extended family members. Mari’s sister Coral dubs her “odd,” but when Mari releases a dolphin calf from a mesh net, her proud parents send her on an important mission: to travel to the human world to find out why the waters are increasingly polluted with plastic. In a painless metamorphosis, Mari trades in her fins for legs and dubs herself Mari A. Fisch. Accompanied by her father’s adviser, Blub, a blobfish turned bulldog, Mari moves in with a human family living in Florida who think she’s an exchange student from Finland. Mari campaigns against the use of plastic while navigating complex social dynamics at her new school and learning that the most popular kids don’t always make the best friends. The dozen brief, clearly written chapters each end on a minor cliffhanger and, often, a note of encouragement (“You’ve read four chapters. Amazing!”). The naïve Mari’s unfamiliarity with human words and concepts adds bits of humor. Mari appears brown-skinned in the black-and-white cartoon art; other characters vary in skin tone.
An earnest introduction to environmentalism for burgeoning chapter-book readers. (craft activity) (Early chapter book. 6-9)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9780063116276
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Adventure, humor, and smart, likable characters make for a winning chapter book.
Ada Twist’s incessant stream of questions leads to answers that help solve a neighborhood crisis.
Ada conducts experiments at home to answer questions such as, why does Mom’s coffee smell stronger than Dad’s coffee? Each answer leads to another question, another hypothesis, and another experiment, which is how she goes from collecting data on backyard birds for a citizen-science project to helping Rosie Revere figure out how to get her uncle Ned down from the sky, where his helium-filled “perilous pants” are keeping him afloat. The Questioneers—Rosie the engineer, Iggy Peck the architect, and Ada the scientist—work together, asking questions like scientists. Armed with knowledge (of molecules and air pressure, force and temperature) but more importantly, with curiosity, Ada works out a solution. Ada is a recognizable, three-dimensional girl in this delightfully silly chapter book: tirelessly curious and determined yet easily excited and still learning to express herself. If science concepts aren’t completely clear in this romp, relationships and emotions certainly are. In playful full- and half-page illustrations that break up the text, Ada is black with Afro-textured hair; Rosie and Iggy are white. A closing section on citizen science may inspire readers to get involved in science too; on the other hand, the “Ode to a Gas!” may just puzzle them. Other backmatter topics include the importance of bird study and the threat palm-oil use poses to rainforests.
Adventure, humor, and smart, likable characters make for a winning chapter book. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: April 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3422-9
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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