These profound animal-centric tales will resonate with readers of any age.
Wildlife creatures undergo trials and overcome hardships in Ratnam’s middle-grade short story collection.
In the opening “Feathers and Voyagers,” a young grackle (blackbird) named Zemi witnesses ships coming ashore. They’re the first humans to set foot on the island of Barbados, and the native grackles are wary. Zemi cautiously approaches a human, determined to prove the two species can be friends. Each of the 15 generally uplifting (and occasionally bittersweet) stories features animal protagonists, often facing indisputable dangers, including humans, predators, or harrowing excursions. That’s certainly the case for the Central Indian langurs (gray monkeys) in “Brothers of the Canopy”; when Yousef spots a poacher snatching his best friend, Ali, he doesn’t hesitate to plan a rescue, and joins forces with an unexpected ally. Ratnam’s cast is wonderfully diverse, from their species to their individual personalities. The characters in “Kinship of the Outcasts,” for example, are virtual opposites—Jarra is an old “battle-worn” leopard; the young hyena Kazi has been banished for defying his clan’s matriarch. (These natural enemies may find common ground.) A few characters, like the snow leopard Norbu, appear in more than one story. The landscape frequently changes: Readers visit Mongolian grasslands, South American jungles, and the blisteringly cold Arctic. “Invictus” opens in Western Europe, where a brave horse befriends a real-life historical figure; “Barkha” features a young camel who travels from India to another desert region altogether. The author deftly tackles such themes as teamwork, empathy, and trust throughout the collection. While his pithy writing adorns very short tales, he doesn’t skimp on vividly describing the environment: “As the sun began to peek over the horizon, painting the sky in pinks and golds, the expedition team stirred to life.”
These profound animal-centric tales will resonate with readers of any age.Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9781963865158
Page Count: 270
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Jan. 13, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A real gem.
A 10-year old girl learns to adjust to a strange town, makes some fascinating friends, and fills the empty space in her heart thanks to a big old stray dog in this lyrical, moving, and enchanting book by a fresh new voice.
India Opal’s mama left when she was only three, and her father, “the preacher,” is absorbed in his own loss and in the work of his new ministry at the Open-Arms Baptist Church of Naomi [Florida]. Enter Winn-Dixie, a dog who “looked like a big piece of old brown carpet that had been left out in the rain.” But, this dog had a grin “so big that it made him sneeze.” And, as Opal says, “It’s hard not to immediately fall in love with a dog who has a good sense of humor.” Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal meets Miss Franny Block, an elderly lady whose papa built her a library of her own when she was just a little girl and she’s been the librarian ever since. Then, there’s nearly blind Gloria Dump, who hangs the empty bottle wreckage of her past from the mistake tree in her back yard. And, Otis, oh yes, Otis, whose music charms the gerbils, rabbits, snakes and lizards he’s let out of their cages in the pet store. Brush strokes of magical realism elevate this beyond a simple story of friendship to a well-crafted tale of community and fellowship, of sweetness, sorrow and hope. And, it’s funny, too.
A real gem. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0776-2
Page Count: 182
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2000
SEEN & HEARD
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