by Richard W., M.D. Leech ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 5, 2010
A dog's tale with enough imagination to forgive its fleas.
This young adult book follows a precocious, rural dog named Button and her diverse group of animal friends as they journey from exploring nature to waging war.
Basically a series of short stories connected by Button, the book starts with the canine meeting Ssserek the snake while playing outside. The two get to know one another, comparing fangs and discussing Ssserek's lack of legs. Then Button runs into her other comrades, including Isaiah the skunk, Beulah the opossum, Pip the bird, Ignatius the squirrel, Ms. Lucie the sparrow and Rarebit the frog. Unfortunately, the introduction of these underdeveloped characters starts to read like a list comprised of almost indistinct personalities. But when Sally the beagle and Button go "trap-hunting" (the animal equivalent of searching for explosives in a minefield) things pick up steam. And when Delph the alligator attacks the two dogs, gets caught in a trap and then befriends them both when they–along with the help of Milo the moose–save him, the story nicely drives home the value of cooperation. By the time all the creatures, including Biff the bear, join forces to battle the rats, this inventive book has overcome its poor man's The Wind in the Willows beginnings and has drawn in the reader. Leech more specifically draws later arrivals such as the snobby J. Wellington Blackbird and the dragon Princess Vintrix Sarandra (who drives out the evil rodents), while Mommy Kitty's travails bring some Charlotte’s Web sadness to the tale. When Button fights the nefarious rats that are in cahoots with the raven to save Sally, we're truly concerned with the beagle's welfare. While the story could use some tightening–many scenes seem repetitive, stuck in a loop of introducing characters followed by overcoming obstacles–there’s a lovely, nostalgic, handmade quality to the book that harkens back to a more innocent, immediate time. Presenting a protagonist who learns about the world through actually exploring it firsthand sends a quality message indeed.
A dog's tale with enough imagination to forgive its fleas.Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4415-9174-6
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Joy Cowley ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1999
Bishop’s spectacular photographs of the tiny red-eyed tree frog defeat an incidental text from Cowley (Singing Down the Rain, 1997, etc.). The frog, only two inches long, is enormous in this title; it appears along with other nocturnal residents of the rain forests of Central America, including the iguana, ant, katydid, caterpillar, and moth. In a final section, Cowley explains how small the frog is and aspects of its life cycle. The main text, however, is an afterthought to dramatic events in the photos, e.g., “But the red-eyed tree frog has been asleep all day. It wakes up hungry. What will it eat? Here is an iguana. Frogs do not eat iguanas.” Accompanying an astonishing photograph of the tree frog leaping away from a boa snake are three lines (“The snake flicks its tongue. It tastes frog in the air. Look out, frog!”) that neither advance nor complement the action. The layout employs pale and deep green pages and typeface, and large jewel-like photographs in which green and red dominate. The combination of such visually sophisticated pages and simplistic captions make this a top-heavy, unsatisfying title. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-590-87175-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
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by Ben Mikaelsen ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 28, 2001
Troubled teen meets totemic catalyst in Mikaelsen’s (Petey, 1998, etc.) earnest tribute to Native American spirituality. Fifteen-year-old Cole is cocky, embittered, and eaten up by anger at his abusive parents. After repeated skirmishes with the law, he finally faces jail time when he viciously beats a classmate. Cole’s parole officer offers him an alternative—Circle Justice, an innovative justice program based on Native traditions. Sentenced to a year on an uninhabited Arctic island under the supervision of Edwin, a Tlingit elder, Cole provokes an attack from a titanic white “Spirit Bear” while attempting escape. Although permanently crippled by the near-death experience, he is somehow allowed yet another stint on the island. Through Edwin’s patient tutoring, Cole gradually masters his rage, but realizes that he needs to help his former victims to complete his own healing. Mikaelsen paints a realistic portrait of an unlikable young punk, and if Cole’s turnaround is dramatic, it is also convincingly painful and slow. Alas, the rest of the characters are cardboard caricatures: the brutal, drunk father, the compassionate, perceptive parole officer, and the stoic and cryptic Native mentor. Much of the plot stretches credulity, from Cole’s survival to his repeated chances at rehabilitation to his victim being permitted to share his exile. Nonetheless, teens drawn by the brutality of Cole’s adventures, and piqued by Mikaelsen’s rather muscular mysticism, might absorb valuable lessons on anger management and personal responsibility. As melodramatic and well-meaning as the teens it targets. (Fiction. YA)
Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2001
ISBN: 0-380-97744-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
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