A fun main character, important lessons and an emphasis on French culture will make this a memorable experience for early...
After puppy leaves the farm to live in the city, she must adjust to life with her spoiled poodle sisters, obedience school and her first crush.
In the first book of a promising series, Kaupp introduces sweet, friendly Amberella Corgi Stafford, the young offspring of a Welsh corgi and Staffordshire bull terrier. Always up for new adventures, Amberella leaves her home on the farm to go live with a sophisticated family in the city. The family includes two prissy poodle sisters, Zozue and Tutsu, and Grand-mére, a human who can hear dogs talk. Shallow Zozue and Tutsu immediately dismiss their new sister, shocked to discover that they’re supposed to accept the country-bred puppy as one of their own. But after a few incidences of inhospitable behavior, the sisters realize that Amberella isn’t going anywhere; they grow to like her. Grand-mére sends Amberella to obedience school, where, after she develops a crush on a black Labrador named Prince, she must navigate new, unexpected feelings. While the “city mouse, country mouse” plot is one that’s been covered many times before, this book offers useful lessons for elementary-grade readers, such as how to handle bullying, make friends and understand a crush. But what sets Kaupp’s debut apart is that Grand-mére takes the puppies to Paris to reunite with Tutsu and Zozue’s old governess and take in the sights. Not only are French words sprinkled throughout—a handy word list at the front of the book provides translations and pronunciation help—but the dogs also visit major French sites like Versailles. Kaupp’s writing is also engaging, and short chapters and illustrations sprinkled throughout make this a manageable text for young readers.
A fun main character, important lessons and an emphasis on French culture will make this a memorable experience for early readers.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2012
ISBN: 978-1466905948
Page Count: 120
Publisher: Trafford
Review Posted Online: April 16, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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