by Richard Thake illustrated by Vince Chui ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2010
Two boys imagine an adventure in the kingdoms of Thatchwych and High Dudgeon. Sir Seth and his buddy Sir Ollie go a-questing in their tinfoil armor to find the missing Soothsaying Shoes of Sir Shawn Shrood. They wend their way to the dark, lonely castle of Prince Quincy of Poxley with the help of saber-toothed sloth Edith-Anne and the ghost of Jolly King Wally. Can they brave the weezils and weevils and elephant ants with measles and worse? With the help of new friends, it’s easy-peasy! Published in an avowed attempt to revive the read-aloud for middle graders, Canadian ad-man Thake’s first work of fiction will, more likely, sour their stomachs. The forced rhymes and treacly descriptions would set teeth on edge in a picture book. The bad grammar and cutesy made-up words are anything but instructive, easily addressed “dangers” kill any sense of adventure and the characters never develop beyond caricatures. Serviceable black-and-white, cartoon illustrations can’t save this. Cressida Cowell’s How to Train Your Dragon books, Kate McMullan’s Dragon Slayers' Academy and the storied Magic Tree House all render this painfully patronizing series unnecessary. (Fantasy. 7-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-897349-92-2
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2010
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More In The Series
by Richard Thake & illustrated by Vince Chui
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BOOK REVIEW
by Richard Thake & illustrated by Vince Chui
by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer ; illustrated by Simini Blocker ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 18, 2019
Alert readers will find the implicit morals: know your audience, mostly, but also never underestimate the power of “rock”...
The theme of persistence (for better or worse) links four tales of magic, trickery, and near disasters.
Lachenmeyer freely borrows familiar folkloric elements, subjecting them to mildly comical twists. In the nearly wordless “Hip Hop Wish,” a frog inadvertently rubs a magic lamp and finds itself saddled with an importunate genie eager to shower it with inappropriate goods and riches. In the title tale, an increasingly annoyed music-hating witch transforms a persistent minstrel into a still-warbling cow, horse, sheep, goat, pig, duck, and rock in succession—then is horrified to catch herself humming a tune. Athesius the sorcerer outwits Warthius, a rival trying to steal his spells via a parrot, by casting silly ones in Ig-pay Atin-lay in the third episode, and in the finale, a painter’s repeated efforts to create a flattering portrait of an ogre king nearly get him thrown into a dungeon…until he suddenly understands what an ogre’s idea of “flattering” might be. The narratives, dialogue, and sound effects leave plenty of elbow room in Blocker’s big, brightly colored panels for the expressive animal and human(ish) figures—most of the latter being light skinned except for the golden genie, the blue ogre, and several people of color in the “Sorcerer’s New Pet.”
Alert readers will find the implicit morals: know your audience, mostly, but also never underestimate the power of “rock” music. (Graphic short stories. 8-10)Pub Date: June 18, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-59643-750-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
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by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer ; illustrated by Frank W. Dormer
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by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer ; illustrated by Carlyn Beccia
BOOK REVIEW
by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer & illustrated by Nicoletta Ceccoli
by Henry Winkler ; Lin Oliver ; illustrated by Scott Garrett ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 14, 2014
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
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More by Henry Winkler
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by Henry Winkler & Lin Oliver ; illustrated by Dan Santat
BOOK REVIEW
by Henry Winkler & Lin Oliver ; illustrated by Ethan Nicolle
BOOK REVIEW
by Henry Winkler & Lin Oliver
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