This kicks off a series, and readers will be glad to know that this piggie and pooch will pair up again.
Who’s stealing animals? The “pet-tectives” are on the case!
Horace Homer Higgins III is a most dignified Boston terrier, and he’s not happy that his human Eleanor is moving him from the city to the Homestead. It’s hard enough to keep her safe in town. Then she announces he’s about to get a new sister…and that sister turns out to be a pig! Bunwinkle was the runt of her litter, but what she lacks in size she makes up for in enthusiasm, and she loves living on the farm. All the animal characters are, well, characters: Smith and Jones are horse brothers who’ve seen it all; Smokey is a sardonically nasty stray cat; there’s also a bevy of excitable chicks, alpacas, goats, and troublesome ducks. On one of several trips to the vet (farms can be hazardous), Horace and Bunwinkle start to piece together a local mystery. Animals are disappearing. Is it the vets? Is it Smokey? Aliens? (That’s what Jones thinks.) The chase is on, but can they puzzle it out before one of them gets snatched? Gardner’s debut tale of mystery and (eventual) bucolic bliss brings to mind Joan Carris and Noah Z. Jones’ Bed & Biscuit series. Graduates of the Mercy Watson books will also feel right at home. Mottram’s occasional illustrations just add to the charm. Human characters are default White. (Final art not seen.)
This kicks off a series, and readers will be glad to know that this piggie and pooch will pair up again. (author's note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-294654-6
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
The story would have a real chance on its own merits without these really appallingly bad episodes. (Fantasy. 8-12)
Of course this will sell—as an E.B. White item and one that the publishers are pushing hard, playing it for an adult as well as a juvenile sale.
And that is where I think it really belongs, along with Robert Lawson's books, which reach children chiefly through adults. Thurber was another, but more justifiable on the score of a nice quality of whimsy, which Stuart Little—for me at least—lacks. This seems to me pseudo-fantasy, synthetic, and lacking the tenderness that makes a story such as Wind In The Willows wholly the children's own. Undertones and overtones of this story of a mouse in a human family are unjuvenile on all counts. The central story follows the make-believe as Stuart, complete with hat, cane, pin-striped trousers, and a stout heart, embarks on his small odyssey—a hairbreadth escape in a window shade (victim of a jealous cat), high seas exploits in Central Park, near tragedy in a garbage scow. Then comes the complete flop of the schoolroom episode and the romance.
The story would have a real chance on its own merits without these really appallingly bad episodes. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 17, 1945
ISBN: 978-0-06-026396-6
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1945
PERSPECTIVES
Utterly believable, this bittersweet story, complete with an author’s note identifying the real Ivan, will inspire a new...
How Ivan confronts his harrowing past yet stays true to his nature exemplifies everything youngsters need to know about courage.
Living in a "domain" of glass, metal and cement at the Big Top Mall, Ivan sometimes forgets whether to act like a gorilla or a human—except Ivan does not think much of humans. He describes their behavior as frantic, whereas he is a peaceful artist. Fittingly, Ivan narrates his tale in short, image-rich sentences and acute, sometimes humorous, observations that are all the more heartbreaking for their simple delivery. His sorrow is palpable, but he stoically endures the cruelty of humans until Ruby the baby elephant is abused. In a pivotal scene, Ivan finally admits his domain is a cage, and rather than let Ruby live and die in grim circumstances, he promises to save her. In order to express his plea in a painting, Ivan must bravely face buried memories of the lush jungle, his family and their brutal murder, which is recounted in a brief, powerful chapter sure to arouse readers’ passions. In a compelling ending, the more challenging question Applegate poses is whether or not Ivan will remember what it was like to be a gorilla. Spot art captures poignant moments throughout.
Utterly believable, this bittersweet story, complete with an author’s note identifying the real Ivan, will inspire a new generation of advocates. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Jan. 17, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-06-199225-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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