Quite bewitching.
“Polly Proggett is terrible at spells, which is rather unfortunate when you’re a witch.”
Polly’s magical ineptitude, a source of considerable frustration, has left her without a single witch or warlock to call friend. Luckily, she has Buster, “who is kind and lovely and likes Polly no matter what.” Polly and Buster have been thick as thieves since childhood, secretly meeting every day after school in their favorite backyard tree—but there’s a problem. Buster’s a member of the monster underclass, and monsters and witches do not mix. A field trip to an art museum draws Polly closer to a popular former enemy, but everything goes awry when she runs into Buster, whom she snubs harshly. Shrinking, quite literally, under the weight of her rejection, Buster becomes the target of abuse from his classmates. A repentant Polly rushes to defend her friend, accidentally casting an extraordinarily powerful Protector spell. A twisting of events transforms Polly into a local hero, but at what cost to her cherished friendship? Rippin cultivates an emotive third-person narrative with stark simplicity. Stylistic typographical gimmicks pepper the text throughout but never detract from the flow of the story. By contrast, the pacing feels rushed at times, sometimes jarringly so, but a lively marriage of magic and mayhem makes for an easy read even as tensions between witches and monsters rise. Humanoid characters default to white. Sequel The Mystery of the Magic Stones publishes simultaneously.
Quite bewitching. (Fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-61067-926-8
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A salutary, unusual look at part of the world rarely seen in North American children’s literature, wrapped up in family fun
A Canadian family’s vacation in Croatia offers both typical road-trip zaniness and opportunities for deep reflection.
When Charlie and Max find (under the kitchen stove) the postcard from Fred inviting the family to visit them on Vrgada, they know they are in for it. Older brother Charlie narrates the high jinks in a voice that is endearingly both knowing and impressionable. He is wise in the ways of his family, but he is also ready to try to understand Croatia. Mixed in with the usual vacation travails (car sickness, border pit stops, keeping tabs on his perpetually hungry little brother, Max) are sights and incidents very specific to their destination. Some are funny—apparently just about all Croatian men are named Slobodan, including family friend Fred—but just as many are poignant. They stop in an abandoned village seeded with land mines during Yugoslavia’s brutal civil war; they encounter psychologically maimed war survivors. All of this is related in Charlie’s convincing voice—he only half understands it but is deeply moved all the same. These hints of gravity punctuate but do not puncture the holiday fun; readers like Max and Charlie who have grown up in safety will emerge thoughtful but not traumatized.
A salutary, unusual look at part of the world rarely seen in North American children’s literature, wrapped up in family fun (. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: April 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-55498-420-6
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
Pretty. Pretty forgettable too.
An abbreviated if recognizable version of the classic, with fine-lined illustrations augmented by a set of pull-up minivistas.
Safran’s adaptation preserves the original’s general structure and bits of the dialogue and verse, though Alice’s encounters with a hookah-smoking caterpillar, “Father William,” the Lobster Quadrille, the Mock Turtle, and much else are gone. Taylor illustrates it with spot vignettes, plus an inset cover tableau and four pop-up constructs that pull open to raise and reveal multilayered scenes. Into these, Taylor places small renditions of the chubby White Rabbit, a cross-eyed Mad Hatter, and the rest in static poses while outfitting Alice in pink ballet slippers and a flow-y, sleeveless polka-dot shift. The effect is decidedly bland. Children after more flavorful takes on the tale, particularly those spiced with 3-D or other special effects, have a veritable banquet before them—from J. Otto Siebold’s quirky Alice in Pop-Up Wonderland (2003) and Robert Sabuda’s masterwork of paper engineering (2003) to the spectacular e-outings Alicewinks (2013) and Alice for the iPad (2010).
Pretty. Pretty forgettable too. (Pop-up picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: June 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-85707-814-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Tango Books
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2015
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