A charming, funny and engaging fairy tale that’s sure to delight admirers of the classics.
Valentino offers an engaging fantasy that draws upon familiar fairy tales and the romantic mix-ups of Shakespeare’s lighter comedies.
Alice and Celia live with their wicked stepmother, Calamita, and spoiled stepsisters, the cruel and greedy twins Tarantula and Anaconda. Fearing that Alice and Celia will ruin her daughters’ chances of finding husbands, Calamita sends the pair into the Enchanted Forest to fetch firewood but makes sure they lose their way among the winding paths. The two girls find their godmother, Mozzarella, a cantankerous old fairy who spends most of her time consulting an opinionated, hotheaded mirror. She soon sends the girls back out into the world to seek their fortunes, but just in case they get separated, she gives them each a magic silver ring that will turn red if either girl gets into serious trouble. What follows is a delightful romp through the enchanted wood and beyond, with the girls traveling along different paths (sketched out in the author’s maps at the beginning of each section). They meet a cast of characters to rival those found in Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland and the forests and woods of the Brothers Grimm. The fast pace, witty dialogue and winding plot keep the story fizzing until the end, and a host of wonders add to the charm—including a fox with a magical napkin that can feed a table of giants, a glass mountain with a city carved into its summit and a cat who rules a kingdom. As in all good fairy tales, the two heroines seek out and find their princes, and after a series of mistaken identities and precarious mishaps, they’re far better off than at the start of their journeys.
A charming, funny and engaging fairy tale that’s sure to delight admirers of the classics.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-0854-2954-6
Page Count: 119
Publisher: Brattle Publishing Group
Review Posted Online: Jan. 15, 2014
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
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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