A lovely story with charming illustrations, though it may be disturbing for some younger readers.
Photographer Richardson wrote this, his impressive debut, to help process his grief.
Lavender Blue is devastated to learn that her friend Rose O’Brien doesn’t have long to live. Vowing to the stars that she will do anything to prevent Rose’s death, Lavender falls asleep clutching a rosebud but awakens feeling peaceful and holding a necklace and charm instead of the rosebud. Her teacher, Professor Priddle, consults a volume on the history of the faeries of Galtee Wood and concludes that the symbol on the charm represents the golden rainbow. He believes that the faeries consider Lavender blessed and are trying to communicate with her. Professor Priddle gives her a pouch filled with iron dust to ward away evil faeries. She starts to walk home when she sees a rainbow peek through the clouds. Wondering if it’s a sign, she runs toward it and encounters a leprechaun, who tells her that if she delivers the necklace to Rose by midnight, her friend will be saved; if not, Rose will die. Thus begins Lavender’s journey through the Galtee Wood, by turns worrying, terrifying and occasionally joyous. Just when Lavender gives up all hope, she meets the beautiful faerie queen, Wisteria. Inspired by the real-life Galtee Woods and Lismore Castle, the story is beautifully crafted, with a believable mixture of fay folk, both good and evil. Although the chapter book is exquisitely illustrated—MacDougall’s watercolorlike drawings are one of the book’s main attractions—it shouldn’t be mistaken for a picture book, since the subject matter will be too disturbing for younger children. Despite the serious subject matter, the book just narrowly avoids being morbid or too sad. Rose’s undisclosed illness is puzzling, most of all to Lavender, who isn’t quite convincing as the heroic protagonist the faeries consider her to be. Although she claims to be devoted to her dying friend, she is too easily distracted and excessively gullible. Nonetheless, the paranormal elements are engaging, as are the book’s reassuring, simple morals of loyalty and doing anything for your friends.
A lovely story with charming illustrations, though it may be disturbing for some younger readers.Pub Date: July 10, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-9786422-4-2
Page Count: 75
Publisher: Impossible Dreams Publishing Co.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
In an imaginative wordless picture book, Wiesner (illustrator of Kite Flyer, 1986) tours a dream world suggested by the books and objects in a boy's room. A series of transitions—linked by a map in the book that the boy was reading as he fell asleep—wafts him, pajama-clad, from an aerial view of hedge-bordered fields to a chessboard with chess pieces, some changing into their realistic counterparts (plus a couple of eerie roundheaded figures based on pawns that reappear throughout); next appear a castle; a mysterious wood in which lurks a huge, whimsical dragon; the interior of a neoclassical palace; and a series of fantastic landscapes that eventually transport the boy back to his own bed. Most interesting here are the visual links Wiesner uses in his journey's evolution; it's fun to trace the many details from page to page. There's a bow to Van Allsburg, and another to Sendak's In the Night Kitchen, but Wiesner's broad double-spreads of a dream world—whose muted colors suggest a silent space outside of time—have their own charm. Intriguing.
Pub Date: April 20, 1988
ISBN: 978-0-06-156741-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1988
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