Shalant (The Great Eye, 1996, etc.) presents a delightful fantasy about a pet turtle named Bartleby who wants to return to his home in the Mississippi. Seeing other red-eared turtles on television, he knows he belongs with more of his own kind in freedom. He gets the opportunity to escape when a petulant child retaliates against his sibling and tosses him into a swamp. Life outside of his comfy ginger is far from easy, however. There are “creatures of the claw, paw or jaw” that take advantage of his naïveté. With a little help from some friends—Mudly, a stinkpot turtle, Kingfisher, a duck named Mother Wak, and Muskrat—he is able to survive these daily threats. Bartleby heroically leads the greatest threat to their existence, an alligator named Seezer, back to the Mississippi with him. There are no interior illustrations, but the cover aptly conveys the final amiable relationship that is reached between Seezer and Bartleby when they realize they must put aside their opposite natures and work as a team to reach their final destination. (Fiction. 8-11)
Pub Date: June 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-525-46033-0
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The gastronomical oddity of eating winged and many-legged creatures is fleetingly examined in a superficial text that looks at animals and people who eat insects. Bugs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner are gobbled up by a shrew, an aardvark, a bear, a gecko, and others. The rhyme scheme limits the information presented; specificity about the types of insects eaten is sacrificed for the sake of making the rhyme flow, e.g., a mouse, a trout, a praying mantis, a nuthatch, and a bat are repeatedly said to eat “bugs” or “insects” in general, rather than naming the mayflies, moths, or grubs they enjoy. An author’s note explains her choice of the word bugs for all crawly things; an addendum takes care of other particulars lacking in the text. Long’s exacting pen-and-ink style lends a naturalistic perfection to this visual playground of the insect world, enhancing this glimpse of vital link in the food chain. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-88106-271-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
This amusing but never especially compelling dog tale is most likely to appeal to animal lovers. (Fiction. 8-11)
Nine-year-old Eric was thrilled to get a puppy from the animal shelter. But Ugly has now grown into an out-of-control dog.
The primary reason for that is Eric, of course. It’s been far too easy for him to leave Ugly’s care to his busy mom, so the young dog has never received any training, and now Eric’s parents and his rather unpleasant, much older sister have lost patience with both boy and dog. Worse is that Ugly prefers the person who feeds him, leaving Eric feeling rejected and unmotivated. If Ugly isn’t to be sent away, Eric has to step up and take over, a lesson he’s quite reluctant to embrace in spite of gentle—if rather pedantic—guidance from his grandfather. Eric’s first-person narrative is represented as a book he’s writing, apparently as self-motivated bibliotherapy. With amusing advice from his friends and help from Maggie, an experienced dog trainer, Eric eventually learns his lessons—and so does Ugly. Ugly’s misadventures are believable, as is Eric’s avoidance of responsibility. Maggie provides interesting dog-training hints, and the happy ending may inspire readers to pick up Ugly’s next misadventure, My Dog Gets a Job, which publishes simultaneously. Eric, his family, and Maggie present white in Lancett’s engaging illustrations; he has at least one friend of color.
This amusing but never especially compelling dog tale is most likely to appeal to animal lovers. (Fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: July 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-8086-4
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
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