The myth of Pandora is told in compelling free verse with striking, colored-pencil and watercolor illustrations. Burleigh sticks fairly close to his sources, choosing the jar, rather than the box, as the thing-that-must-not-be-opened. It’s made clear that Zeus seeks to punish humankind for receiving fire from Prometheus; it is Prometheus’ brother who receives Pandora (her name means all-gifted) as his wife. She’s beautiful and has many skills, but is obsessed by the jar that she must not open. Why, she reasons, would the goddess Athena give her “the power to think and wonder—And order her not to use it?” She opens the jar, and all manner of evil escapes. Only hope is left behind. Colón uses his colors lightly to show the texture of the paper, creating wonderful, almost iridescent effects: rich purples, golds, blues, and greens. Very different in tone and effect from the lyrical Dora’s Box (1998), this is darker but still accessible, though it may have trouble finding its audience because of its mature treatment. (cast of characters) (Picture book/nonfiction. 6-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-15-202178-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Silver Whistle/Harcourt
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2002
Categories: CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION
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It’s not truffles but doubloons that tickle this porcine wayfarer’s fancy.
Funke and Meyer make another foray into chapter-book fare after Emma and the Blue Genie (2014). Here, mariner Stout Sam and deckhand Pip eke out a comfortable existence on Butterfly Island ferrying cargo to and fro. Life is good, but it takes an unexpected turn when a barrel washes ashore containing a pig with a skull-and-crossbones pendant around her neck. It soon becomes clear that this little piggy, dubbed Julie, has the ability to sniff out treasure—lots of it—in the sea. The duo is pleased with her skills, but pride goeth before the hog. Stout Sam hands out some baubles to the local children, and his largess attracts the unwanted attention of Barracuda Bill and his nasty minions. Now they’ve pignapped Julie, and it’s up to the intrepid sailors to save the porker and their own bacon. The succinct word count meets the needs of kids looking for early adventure fare. The tale is slight, bouncy, and amusing, though Julie is never the piratical buccaneer the book’s cover seems to suggest. Meanwhile, Meyer’s cheery watercolors are as comfortable diagramming the different parts of a pirate vessel as they are rendering the dread pirate captain himself.
A nifty high-seas caper for chapter-book readers with a love of adventure and a yearning for treasure. (Adventure. 7-9)Pub Date: June 23, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-37544-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2015
Categories: CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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A trite, knock-off sequel to Jumanji (1981). The “Jumanji” box distracts Walter Budwing away from beating up on his little brother Danny, but it’s Danny who discovers the Zathura board inside—and in no time, Earth is far behind, a meteor has smashed through the roof, and a reptilian Zyborg pirate is crawling through the hole. Each throw of the dice brings an ominous new development, portrayed in grainy, penciled freeze frames featuring sculptured-looking figures in constricted, almost claustrophobic settings. The angles of view are, as always, wonderfully dramatic, but not only is much of the finer detail that contributed to Jumanji’s astonishing realism missing, the spectacular damage being done to the Budwings’ house as the game progresses is, by and large, only glimpsed around the picture edges. Naturally, having had his bacon repeatedly saved by his younger sibling’s quick thinking, once Walter falls through a black hole to a time preceding the game’s start, his attitude toward Danny undergoes a sudden, radical transformation. Van Allsburg’s imagination usually soars right along with his accomplished art—but here, both are just running in place. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 2002
ISBN: 0-618-25396-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2002
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