Labored, particularly at the end, but daffy enough to fly.
Adventures and shattered illusions lead to true friendship in this tale of a chicken and a quick-talking worm.
Readers will just have to go with parts of this. Marcus the worm’s dreams of flying are interrupted when he’s suddenly dumped from a “Can-O-Worm” into the bowl of a chicken with “intense and menacing eyes.” Impulsively offering a cheery greeting, Marcus manages to stave off his imminent demise by engaging the easily distracted chicken—Laurence, it turns out—in conversation. It so happens that Laurence, convinced that he’s actually a flamingo, yearns to fly to Kenya’s Lake Nakuru National Park to join others of his supposed ilk. Marcus strings him along, and soon bird and worm are winging off on a tiring if truncated journey, highlighted by encounters with supposedly foreign earthworms with peculiar customs and a friendly squirrel with “terrible teeth” but great dance moves. Marcus’ gift of gab (plus a vaguely recalled anecdote featuring Robert the Bruce and a persistent spider) repeatedly comes in handy until Laurence’s dismal discovery that he isn’t anything like the local zoo’s real flamingos clears the way for professions of mutual friendship and heavy-handed ruminations on how kindness and respect lie at friendship’s heart. Lia adds very simply drawn pink and gray figures to nearly every generously spaced page of this quixotic episode.
Labored, particularly at the end, but daffy enough to fly. (Fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: Feb. 13, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9536-1
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Oct. 9, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2017
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale.
After a tsunami devastates their habitat in the Salish Sea, a young orca and her brother embark on a remarkable adventure.
Vega’s matriarchal family expects her to become a hunter and wayfinder, with her younger brother, Deneb, protecting and supporting her. Invited to guide her family to their Gathering Place to hunt salmon, Vega’s underwater miscalculations endanger them all, and an embarrassed Vega questions whether she should be a wayfinder. When the baby sister she hoped would become her life companion is stillborn, a distraught Vega carries the baby away to a special resting place, shocking her grieving family. Dispatched to find his missing sister, Deneb locates Vega in the midst of a terrible tsunami. To escape the waters polluted by shattered boats, Vega leads Deneb into unfamiliar open sea. Alone and hungry, the young siblings encounter a spectacular giant whale and travel briefly with shark-hunting orcas. Trusting her instincts and gaining emotional strength from contemplating the vastness of the sky, Vega knows she must lead her brother home and help save her surviving family. In alternating first-person voices, Vega and Deneb tell their harrowing story, engaging young readers while educating them about the marine ecosystem. Realistic black-and-white illustrations enhance the maritime setting.
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale. (maps, wildlife facts, tribes of the Salish Sea watershed, environmental and geographical information, how to help orcas, author’s note, artist’s note, resources) (Animal fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-299592-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
Ironically, by choosing such a dramatic catalyst, the author weakens the adventure’s impact overall and leaves readers to...
A group of talking farm animals catches wind of the farm owner’s intention to burn the barn (with them in it) for insurance money and hatches a plan to flee.
Bond begins briskly—within the first 10 pages, barn cat Burdock has overheard Dewey Baxter’s nefarious plan, and by Page 17, all of the farm animals have been introduced and Burdock is sharing the terrifying news. Grady, Dewey’s (ever-so-slightly) more principled brother, refuses to go along, but instead of standing his ground, he simply disappears. This leaves the animals to fend for themselves. They do so by relying on their individual strengths and one another. Their talents and personalities match their species, bringing an element of realism to balance the fantasy elements. However, nothing can truly compensate for the bland horror of the premise. Not the growing sense of family among the animals, the serendipitous intervention of an unknown inhabitant of the barn, nor the convenient discovery of an alternate home. Meanwhile, Bond’s black-and-white drawings, justly compared to those of Garth Williams, amplify the sense of dissonance. Charming vignettes and single- and double-page illustrations create a pastoral world into which the threat of large-scale violence comes as a shock.
Ironically, by choosing such a dramatic catalyst, the author weakens the adventure’s impact overall and leaves readers to ponder the awkward coincidences that propel the plot. (Animal fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-544-33217-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2015
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