Readers’ ribs aren’t the only ones that get a vigorous tickle in this aquatic escapade.
Receiving help from a nearsighted mermaid and a self-propelling island with self-esteem issues, a young lad sets out to rescue his explorer parents.
Having spent all 10 years of his life climbing mountains and exploring trackless jungles with his parents, Oliver Crisp is well-equipped to chase after the Thurlstone, an evil floating island that has added his mom and dad to its elaborate crown of sea wrack. It’s one of the Rambling Isles, on its way to the Hallowed Shallows for the Night of the Seawigs, a celebration held every seven years to give the islands a chance to show off all the stuff they’ve collected. Fortunately, another peripatetic island, this one so mild-mannered it hasn’t got a name, befriends Oliver. Together with Iris the mermaid and a sniffy albatross, Oliver and the newly named Cliff set out to get Oliver’s parents back. Before the rescue can come off, though, Oliver must stand up to the smart-mouthed seaweed of the Sarcastic Sea, get past an army of green furred, hyperactive sea monkeys spilling “down the Thurlstone’s face like a river of snot,” and face like unusual challenges. McIntyre illustrates Reeve’s sly and dashing tale with simply drawn cartoon monkeys (lots of monkeys) and other figures peeking in from the margins or tucking themselves between passages of text.
Readers’ ribs aren’t the only ones that get a vigorous tickle in this aquatic escapade. (Fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: July 22, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-385-38788-0
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2014
When a bull calf is born on Christmas Eve, nine-year-old Eli Stegner is awash with love and pride. This calf will be his first to train and show at the fair. Maybe he will win a blue ribbon, just like Pa and Grandpa. Yet the thought that his calf, named Little Joe, will become someone’s Sunday dinner casts a dark shadow on the tenderhearted boy’s hopes. Pa warns, “No use naming something that’s gonna get eaten.” The milestones in Little Joe’s training propel this thoughtful, character-driven story forward. The rhythm and sometimes-harsh realities of farm life are convincingly intertwined with Eli’s growing attachment to Little Joe. His overworked and careworn family offers Eli love, guidance and support, but throughout the months, Eli wonders about Pa’s brusqueness and lack of emotion toward their cows. It is only after Grandpa shares a secret that Eli understands. The ending may well please animal lovers, but it will likely seem unrealistic for those familiar with Eli’s milieu. Plenty of detail on raising livestock authenticates the story, and Elliott’s pencil sketches enhance the text. (Fiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-375-86097-3
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2010
A savory episode for noodle—er, newly independent or struggling readers.
The archetypal babysitter introduced in Mrs. Noodlekugel (2012) takes a quartet of farsighted mice to the oculist for an exam in this equally offbeat second chapter.
As Pinkwater fans know to expect, the plot zigzags from one wild twist to the next. On the bus, Mrs. Noodlekugel and her loquacious cat, Mr. Fuzzface, regale enthralled young human charges Nick and Maxine with exploits from her previous career as a railroad engineer. Rising to the challenge of testing four mice who can’t read, the doctor cheerfully whips out a unique eye chart. Then, new eyeglasses merit a celebratory stop at Dirty Sally’s Lunchroom, where the waiter is a monkey and the sugar rush caused by the cheesecake touches off a chase that culminates in an astonishing family reunion. Printed in short, well-spaced lines of easily visible type with much room for spot art (finished illustrations not seen), the outing offers plenty of action, easy yuks and characters—from the visually challenged mice to Mrs. Noodlekugel herself, who plainly carries literary DNA from Mary Poppins, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle and perhaps Pippi Longstocking too—who will seem familiar to young audiences.
A savory episode for noodle—er, newly independent or struggling readers. (Fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5054-4
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2013
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