A satisfying concept, friendly, Sendak-inspired colored-pencil–and-pastel illustrations, cartoonish attractiveness, and...
Some fiends have sucked the jam out of Sam’s doughnut! Who are the perpetrators of this wicked deed? Jampires, of course.
Just like their more sinister counterparts in the Twilight vein, Jampires swoop down in the night and steal the sweet stuff, leaving only a telltale dab of red on their tiny fangs. But young Sam is more than a match for them. Setting a trap in his bedroom with a ketchup-laced doughnut as bait, he manages to trap the jam-thirsty pair. Together they fly off to a magical land of desserts in the sky, “where Jampire moms perched under a sugar frosted dome” and a giant jar of jam soars above mountains of blueberry pie and, of course,…doughnuts. The tale ends happily when the Jampire moms, delighted with the safe return of their two “jammy dodgers,” reward Sam with a flown-in daily supply of luscious, jam-packed doughnuts. British author-illustrator team McIntyre and O’Connell have succeeded in creating a highly original narrative with text engagingly arranged. Skillful use is made of speech balloons in varying shapes, and key words—“hullabaloo,” “Slurp,” “CLANG”—are visually highlighted. And it’s hard to beat these two little jam-smeared monsters for cuteness.
A satisfying concept, friendly, Sendak-inspired colored-pencil–and-pastel illustrations, cartoonish attractiveness, and plain old wackiness make this sweet story a winner. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 30, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-545-81663-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: David Fickling/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2015
A gentle adventure that sets the stage for future quests.
A lonely prince gains a friend for a quest to find a missing jewel.
Prince Lucas of Wrenly has everything a boy could possibly want—except a friend. His father has forbidden him to play with the village children for reasons of propriety. Adventure-seeking Lucas acquires peasant clothes to masquerade as a commoner and make friends, but he is caught out. His mother, the queen, persuades the king to allow him one friend: Clara, the daughter of her personal dressmaker. When the queen’s prized emerald pendant goes missing, Lucas and Clara set off to find it. They follow the jewel as it changes hands, interviewing each temporary owner. Their adventure cleverly introduces the series’ world and peoples, taking the children to the fairy island of Primlox, the trolls’ home of Burth, the wizard island of Hobsgrove and finally Mermaid’s Cove. By befriending the mermaids, Lucas and Clara finally recover the jewel. In thanks, the king gives Clara a horse of her own so that she may ride with Lucas on their future adventures. The third-person narration is generally unobtrusive, allowing the characters to take center stage. The charming, medieval-flavored illustrations set the fairy-tale scene and take up enough page space that new and reluctant readers won’t be overwhelmed by text.
A gentle adventure that sets the stage for future quests. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-9691-0
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
Transitioning readers will feel accomplished and will surely look for future volumes to see what happens in Mia’s new life.
In this first volume of a new chapter-book series, a little girl named Mia discovers she’s a superhero.
Mia Macarooney is “a total disaster machine.” Everywhere she goes, chaos and mayhem follow (literally, in the case of Chaos—that’s the name of her cat). Except now she’s received an unusual letter, inviting her to the Program for In Training Superheroes, and she is totally bowled over. It turns out her accidents are often results of her superpowers, which she will learn to hone in her after-school hours at the PITS. As if that weren’t enough of a shock, Mia’s parents deliver the thrilling news that they are superheroes too! Her father is fluent in animal speech, and her mother can fly. Everything moves quickly at the PITS. Mia embarrasses herself in front of everyone during the entrance exam but ends up feeling supported and ready to learn…in the next volume. Freckled, brown-skinned, curly-fro–sporting Mia is an adorable protagonist. An overuse of exclamation points keeps the adrenaline running without a steady stream of exciting events—or even a climax and resolution—but with the large, bold type and the cute illustrations full of personality, emerging readers will be happy to read this book independently. What’s more exciting than that?
Transitioning readers will feel accomplished and will surely look for future volumes to see what happens in Mia’s new life. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: Dec. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3270-3
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2018
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