Fabulous fun.
Canine Arthur and feline Queenie narrate a high-stakes mystery in this second book of their eponymous middle-grade series.
Arthur and Queenie take the stage as dog and cat co-narrators of this funny, deftly plotted mystery. Arthur is a delightfully foggy dog with a big doggie heart—not keen on exercise but very keen on food. For her part, Queenie is the epitome of cat aloofness and self-love. Arthur and Queenie live at Blackberry Hill Inn in Vermont, with Mom and 11-year-old fraternal twins Harmony and Bro; they are as devoted to their humans as they are antipathetic to each other. The same morning mysterious woman Ms. Pryor checks into the inn, Sweet Lady Em, the neighbor’s famous-for-her-cream cow, goes missing, and Queenie, who gets a dish of cream each morning on her special saucer, is extremely unhappy about it. Then 11-year-old Jimmy Doone, Bro’s friend, is blamed for the cow’s going missing because, his father says, he didn’t lock the barn door, but Jimmy insists that he did. Later, Jimmy’s father is found seriously injured by a blow to the head, and why is Ms. Pryor nosing about Catastrophe Falls? The stakes ramp up considerably in this suspenseful and satisfyingly nuanced story. Arthur’s and Queenie’s hilarious personalities as they narrate in alternating chapters give the whole tale a refreshing spin. The people read as white default.
Fabulous fun. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-24580-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
The story would have a real chance on its own merits without these really appallingly bad episodes. (Fantasy. 8-12)
Of course this will sell—as an E.B. White item and one that the publishers are pushing hard, playing it for an adult as well as a juvenile sale.
And that is where I think it really belongs, along with Robert Lawson's books, which reach children chiefly through adults. Thurber was another, but more justifiable on the score of a nice quality of whimsy, which Stuart Little—for me at least—lacks. This seems to me pseudo-fantasy, synthetic, and lacking the tenderness that makes a story such as Wind In The Willows wholly the children's own. Undertones and overtones of this story of a mouse in a human family are unjuvenile on all counts. The central story follows the make-believe as Stuart, complete with hat, cane, pin-striped trousers, and a stout heart, embarks on his small odyssey—a hairbreadth escape in a window shade (victim of a jealous cat), high seas exploits in Central Park, near tragedy in a garbage scow. Then comes the complete flop of the schoolroom episode and the romance.
The story would have a real chance on its own merits without these really appallingly bad episodes. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 17, 1945
ISBN: 978-0-06-026396-6
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1945
PERSPECTIVES
A verdant, enchanting read let down by poorly executed diverse representation.
Old riddles provide a modern girl with a summer adventure.
Caspia Turkel would rather stay in her small Maine town than spend 11 weeks (the whole summer!) in Brooklyn, even though her parents are excited about the opportunities awaiting them. Within a hand-painted dresser in their rented apartment, Caspia finds a stack of pale-green linen envelopes, tied with a velvet ribbon. The letters inside were sent in the 1950s and ’60s to a girl named Minna from her loving sister, Rosalind, and they contain a series of riddles about plants. Even though she’s never given much thought to growing things before, Caspia dives into this scavenger hunt and learns unexpected things about what Rosalind dubbed the “Green Kingdom.” She also meets amazing people on her journeys around her urban neighborhood, which includes the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The broad range of featured plants includes many that are likely to be familiar to readers. Co-authors Hartung, who has botanical expertise, and Funke, whose original German text was translated by Anna Schmitt Funke, add magic to the mundane, collaborating to create a realistic story that nevertheless feels wonderfully fantastical. Castrillón’s delicate illustrations have an old-fashioned feel and provide marvelous atmosphere as well as effectively highlighting the various plant species. Caspia, who’s white, makes a diverse group of friends in Brooklyn, but many of their portrayals feel exoticizing and othering, marring the attempt to celebrate diversity. (This review was updated to reflect further communication from the publisher regarding the translation credit.)
A verdant, enchanting read let down by poorly executed diverse representation. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9780593959305
Page Count: 224
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2025
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
