A murky ramble satisfyingly festooned with surreal creatures and detail.
From a Belgian illustrator, a set of sharp challenges to young maze runners and Where’s Waldo fans.
When Finn wakes to find his clothes scattered, his dog Sep vanished, and his multilevel house a shambles thanks to a rascally gang of goblins, the search is on—and then the chase. Thanks to dim lighting, dizzying shifts in locale, and hordes of distractions ranging from flocks of floating sheep to long-nosed, Edward Gorey–style night monsters with glowing eyes, tracing the routes of Finn and his quarry through dense tangles of roads, tunnels, stairways, undersea formations, and flights of sinuous dragons will strain the eyes of the most acute gamers and visual puzzle solvers. Though spotting the text is a challenge too, as it’s printed in teeny-tiny type and squirreled away in some inconspicuous corner on each spread, it does offer both helpful hints (“Luckily, they find a drooling rock, a royal rat and an old dragon pointing the way through the castle dungeons”) and a plotline that ultimately leads Finn back to his home just in time for a goblin-hosted birthday party. In tricksy but time-honored fashion Goes then lists a few previously unmentioned figures hidden in each scene as an incentive to go back. The spreads are mostly monochromatic, with occasional features picked out in a contrasting color; Finn himself is a light-skinned child (or possibly man).
A murky ramble satisfyingly festooned with surreal creatures and detail. (Picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: April 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-77657-185-7
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Gecko Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda.
Hank Zipzer, poster boy for dyslexic middle graders everywhere, stars in a new prequel series highlighting second-grade trials and triumphs.
Hank’s hopes of playing Aqua Fly, a comic-book character, in the upcoming class play founder when, despite plenty of coaching and preparation, he freezes up during tryouts. He is not particularly comforted when his sympathetic teacher adds a nonspeaking role as a bookmark to the play just for him. Following the pattern laid down in his previous appearances as an older child, he gets plenty of help and support from understanding friends (including Ashley Wong, a new apartment-house neighbor). He even manages to turn lemons into lemonade with a quick bit of improv when Nick “the Tick” McKelty, the sneering classmate who took his preferred role, blanks on his lines during the performance. As the aforementioned bully not only chokes in the clutch and gets a demeaning nickname, but is fat, boastful and eats like a pig, the authors’ sensitivity is rather one-sided. Still, Hank has a winning way of bouncing back from adversity, and like the frequent black-and-white line-and-wash drawings, the typeface is designed with easy legibility in mind.
An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-448-48239-2
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Trisha is ready to start at a new school, where no one will know she has dyslexia. At first, she is heartbroken to be in Miss Peterson’s special-ed class, aka, “the junkyard.” But Miss Peterson treats the children as anything but junk, showing them that everyone has a unique talent. Polacco’s trademark style is fully present here; her sensitively drawn alter ego shines with depth of feeling. When bullying occurs, Miss Peterson proves her students are worthwhile by planning a junkyard field trip, where they find valuable objects to be used in exciting ways. Trisha’s group repairs a plane, and the class buys an engine for it. Then a beloved class member dies, and the children must find a way to honor him. While the plot meanders somewhat, the characters are appealing, believable and provide a fine portrayal of a truly special class. Children will be drawn in by the story’s warmth and gentle humor and will leave with a spark of inspiration, an appreciation of individual differences and a firm anti-bullying message, all underscored by the author’s note that concludes the book. (Picture book. 7-10)
Pub Date: July 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-399-25078-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2010
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