by Paul Magrs & illustrated by Alan Snow ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2004
Snow’s vignettes of brutally dismembered sock puppets, plus a literally hellish plot twist toward the end, keep this satiric import afloat—just. After his moody, unstable father Frank is confined to a straitjacket after whipping out “his wrinkly old willy” to urinate on the puppets in a department-store window, young Jason Lurcher hears a voice from the attic: “Nixon the penguin must die!” Who is Nixon? The puppet that propelled Jason’s half-brother Barry to TV fame. And who’s talking? That would be Tolstoy, the foul-mouthed bat puppet that made Frank Lurcher’s name a household word years ago—before an ugly on-screen incident got them both kicked off the air. But if he can get Jason to dig him out of the trunk and stick a hand up his bum, Tolstoy plans a murderous comeback. So who’s really in charge? Any reader who knows actual puppeteers may already be wondering, and Magrs doesn’t do anything to clarify the issue—except to offer the climactic revelation that Frank, at least, had made a Deal with a certain subterranean gent. Casually savage, and a little slow off the mark, this isn’t going to draw a crowd of readers, but some might be amused. (Fiction. YA)
Pub Date: June 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-689-87019-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2004
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by Steve Cole & Paul Magrs & Jenny T. Colgan & Jo Cotterill & Trevor Baxendale & Mike Tucker
by Jerry Pallotta ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2000
Who is next in the ocean food chain? Pallotta has a surprising answer in this picture book glimpse of one curious boy. Danny, fascinated by plankton, takes his dory and rows out into the ocean, where he sees shrimp eating those plankton, fish sand eels eating shrimp, mackerel eating fish sand eels, bluefish chasing mackerel, tuna after bluefish, and killer whales after tuna. When an enormous humpbacked whale arrives on the scene, Danny’s dory tips over and he has to swim for a large rock or become—he worries’someone’s lunch. Surreal acrylic illustrations in vivid blues and red extend the story of a small boy, a small boat, and a vast ocean, in which the laws of the food chain are paramount. That the boy has been bathtub-bound during this entire imaginative foray doesn’t diminish the suspense, and the facts Pallotta presents are solidly researched. A charming fish tale about the one—the boy—that got away. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-88106-075-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2000
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by Jerry Pallotta & Sammie Garnett ; illustrated by Vickie Fraser
BOOK REVIEW
by Jerry Pallotta & Sammie Garnett ; illustrated by Vickie Fraser
BOOK REVIEW
by Jerry Pallotta ; illustrated by Rob Bolster
by Beverly Cleary ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 25, 1999
Ramona returns (Ramona Forever, 1988, etc.), and she’s as feisty as ever, now nine-going-on-ten (or “zeroteen,” as she calls it). Her older sister Beezus is in high school, baby-sitting, getting her ears pierced, and going to her first dance, and now they have a younger baby sister, Roberta. Cleary picks up on all the details of fourth grade, from comparing hand calluses to the distribution of little plastic combs by the school photographer. This year Ramona is trying to improve her spelling, and Cleary is especially deft at limning the emotional nuances as Ramona fails and succeeds, goes from sad to happy, and from hurt to proud. The grand finale is Ramona’s birthday party in the park, complete with a cake frosted in whipped cream. Despite a brief mention of nose piercing, Cleary’s writing still reflects a secure middle-class family and untroubled school life, untouched by the classroom violence or the broken families of the 1990s. While her book doesn’t match what’s in the newspapers, it’s a timeless, serene alternative for children, especially those with less than happy realities. (Fiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: Aug. 25, 1999
ISBN: 0-688-16816-7
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1999
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by Beverly Cleary & illustrated by Ted Rand
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by Beverly Cleary & illustrated by David Small
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