In generously open format recalling animal fantasy classics, with appealing drawings in the manner of E. H. Shepard on most spreads, episodes loosely linked by the yearning of the one outsider in a cozy animal community to return to his native Scotland. As he explains in a brogue-laced chapter, frog Tom McPaddy came as a stowaway on the Bonny Bannock; hearing his bagpipes but unable to find the piper, its crew imagined they had a ``bogle'' aboard. Cranky Jeremy Field Mouse finds Tom's piping unbearable; but the other animals, organized by storekeeper Parnassus Jubb, a bear, rally for a friendly send-off, and Tom is wafted homeward via his own bagpipes, inflated extra large. The author has a pleasantly colorful vocabulary and beguiling voice that must have served him well in his career as a puppeteer; but in the absence of much real characterization in the skit-like incidents early on, they're not quite enough to sustain interest. Still, things perk up when the amiable Parnassus takes center stage; he's a warmhearted charmer who even gives the mice plenty of warning before entering his own pantry (though his rescue of an injured bird does recall Stuart Little, and the gingerbread and cocoa with which he plies his friends begins to cloy). Not a first purchase, but a book that reads well aloud, and that avid animal fantasy fans will probably enjoy. (Fiction. 8-11)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-399-22500-5
Page Count: 148
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1993
With a connection between plot and pictures that’s often fitful, this patchy star vehicle is more likely to confuse than amuse. Wandering into an unfamiliar neighborhood, a wolf smells pig and, intoxicated, gains entry to a theater in which the Boarshoi Ballet is performing Swine Lake. His lust for pork abruptly vanishes and a new balletomane is born; he is so enthralled by the performance that he returns the next night, where he, to subsequent critical acclaim, impulsively leaps on stage. Although the text expertly evokes the grand illogic of most ballet plots, the prose is wordy and the pacing uneven. Sendak’s illustrations tell a somewhat different tale than Marshall’s, portraying a shabby wolf deliberately seeking out the company; the artist also seems more intent on packing each scene with stage business, dance references, in-jokes, and tributes than filling in gaps, such as the mysterious disappearance of the first night’s “monster” (a lion). The author’s and illustrator’s names guarantee good sales, but children are unlikely to care for this, and as a memento mori, it falters next to Marshall’s The Owl and the Pussycat. (Picture Book. 8-11)
Pub Date: May 5, 1999
ISBN: 0-06-205171-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1999
Krull's second book about her irrepressible heroine takes up the excitement and disappointments of show business. Now happily ensconced with her father in California while her mother works for a year in Japan, Alex is given the chance to audition for a part in rock star Rox Rox's latest video after making a triumphant appearance playing the piano at the fourth- grade Christmas play. In a flash, Alex—who has never previously heard of Rox Rox—goes into overdrive about her coming stardom. When she actually gets the job, her extreme enthusiasm begins to lose her friends and get her in trouble at school for inattention. When she discovers that she has been replaced with Rox's little sister (except for a shot of her hands playing the piano), her disillusionment is total. Alex has much energy, if not common sense, and Krull has a good ear for dialogue—some compensation for routine characters, language, and plot. An acceptable, if undistinguished, addition to young readers' collections. (Fiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: May 1, 1991
ISBN: 0-316-50479-3
Page Count: 60
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1991
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