A clever story set in Africa with a likable hero and a strong message about helping others.
A wheelchair-bound boy and his brother rescue a lion cub in this cadenced debut picture book.
Nick lives in Addis Ababa, East Africa, with his mom, dad, brother, and a pet lion. Although Nick is pictured in a wheelchair, the text doesn’t immediately call attention to this. Instead, he is shown enjoying things that other kids might like, including reading, swimming, and waterskiing. “How did Nick get a pet lion?” the text asks, moving from the introduction into the heart of the story. The lost cub found Nick’s mom sleeping on the beach; after bringing the small creature, Sandy, home, the whole family helps to take care of her. But the next morning, Sandy gets into trouble again, and Nick and his brother, Jason, have to rescue the cub from being stranded on a hippo’s back. They take the boat out toward Sandy, and Nick, the expert swimmer, safely hauls the cub back to the boat. Roussos, a motivational speaker who, like Nick, grew up in East Africa and has cerebral palsy, presents the hero’s can-do attitude lucidly and in a way that kids should admire. The repeated refrain “There’s only one thing to do when,” followed by someone being lost, scared, hungry, or in trouble, with the repeated answer, “Help!,” will give young readers plenty of opportunities to chime in with parents reading aloud. Marcus-Bause’s simplistic cartoon illustrations feature only small bursts of color, such as Nick’s superhero cape or the sun’s golden rays. The sun, moon, and stars, however, are also drawn as characters reacting to the story, as are the recurring pelicans, giving a weirdly fantastic sense to the illustrations that doesn’t appear in the text. These odd pictures distract from the tale rather than supporting it. The book offers two distinct sections: Nick’s introduction, which features short, easy-to-read sentences, and Sandy’s rescue, which has the repeated refrain and longer blocks of text. A helpful author’s note reminds children not to approach wild animals and assures readers that the Roussos family’s real-life pet lion was fostered with a wildlife organization so she could learn how to survive on her own. The author’s message of assisting others comes through clearly, and his portrait of a skillful wheelchair-bound protagonist resonates powerfully.
A clever story set in Africa with a likable hero and a strong message about helping others.Pub Date: June 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4840-8267-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Aug. 4, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
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