Toby’s actual family and friends will certainly appreciate this remembrance, but young readers with beloved canines of their...
A happy dog tells the story of his life in this debut children’s book, illustrated with photographs of the star.
Toby, 12, is a friendly, joyful yellow Labrador retriever who lives with a family consisting of a mother, father, two boys, and a girl. He’s also close to the children’s grandmother, who, Toby says, has agreed to write down his stories. Toby is an intelligent animal who understands several words, like “Grandma,” “dinner,” and “walk.” But the most important thing to Toby is food: “I love to eat and I can never get enough!!!” he says, with typical doggy enthusiasm. Sometimes this passion gets Toby in trouble. He adores counter surfing, so food must be kept out of his reach. In addition, carrying too much weight is hard for the aging Toby, who’s developed arthritis and has had leg surgery. But he sees the vet regularly and gets medications. Toby does report several times that he’s getting better about not eating people food; he wants to be a good dog. Besides his family and meals, Toby also likes wandering around his nice big house and yard, which has plenty of room to run and play with his toys; romping in the snow; going for walks and hikes, especially with Grandma; people-watching and enjoying the sights, like Christmas lights; and cavorting with other canines. In her book, Cutler paints a vivid portrait of a cherished family dog who’s sometimes naughty but mostly a very good boy. The writing, however, is unpolished, with the feel of something transcribed from a recording. The text skips around from subject to subject and back and forth through Toby’s timeline in no particular order, and the stories are slight. It’s a simple book about a simple dog—yet even so, it has the charm of its affable, cheerful narrator. The many family photographs are very helpful in rounding out the tale and giving a clear sense of Toby and his surroundings.
Toby’s actual family and friends will certainly appreciate this remembrance, but young readers with beloved canines of their own may enjoy it as well.Pub Date: Aug. 10, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-974360-63-5
Page Count: 34
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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