A fifth grader does Dr. Frankenstein one better in this uncomplicated debut. Adam Cricklestein has had an insect zoo in his room since the age of three, but has seen a fair number of his pets done in by nemesis Jeb McCallister, baldly introduced as “the class bully.” Adam’s outrage finally spills over when Jeb tortures and kills a beautiful luna moth. Blowing a year’s allowance on mail-order preserved specimens, he assembles parts of a Malaysian vampire moth, an African emperor scorpion, a hissing cockroach, a giant wetapunga cricket from New Zealand and other outsized arthropods into “Frankie,” an eight-inch, one-pound fighting machine. A jolt from a jar of lightning bugs brings Frankie to life—whereupon Adam discovers that his glittering warrior is a vegetarian, with a decided preference for marshmallows. Nonetheless, when Jeb smashes Adam’s scurrying science project, Frankie gives him a vicious pinch on the butt: or, as Adam writes, “Frankie got the bully in the end. If you know what I mean.” Jeb’s wild tale of being attacked by a humongous bug touches off a town-wide hunt, but when the dust settles, he’s forced to retire in disgrace, true colors exposed, while Frankie becomes a celebrity, and Adam a local hero. Fans of Carol Sonenklar’s Bug Girl (1998), Ralph Fletcher’s Spider Boy (1997) and other stories featuring young people and the creepy-crawlies they love will follow the exploits of this budding but ambitious entomologist with glee. (Fiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2000
ISBN: 0-8234-1496-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2000
PLB 0-688-13166-2 King Midas And The Golden Touch ($16.00; PLB $15.63; Apr.; 32 pp.; 0-688-13165-4; PLB 0-688-13166-2): The familiar tale of King Midas gets the golden touch in the hands of Craft and Craft (Cupid and Psyche, 1996). The author takes her inspiration from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s retelling, capturing the essence of the tale with the use of pithy dialogue and colorful description. Enchanting in their own right, the illustrations summon the Middle Ages as a setting, and incorporate colors so lavish that when they are lost to the uniform gold spurred by King Midas’s touch, the point of the story is further burnished. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-688-13165-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
Lunge-Larsen and Preus debut with this story of a flower that blooms for the first time to commemorate the uncommon courage of a girl who saves her people from illness. The girl, an Ojibwe of the northern woodlands, knows she must journey to the next village to get the healing herb, mash-ki- ki, for her people, who have all fallen ill. After lining her moccasins with rabbit fur, she braves a raging snowstorm and crosses a dark frozen lake to reach the village. Then, rather than wait for morning, she sets out for home while the villagers sleep. When she loses her moccasins in the deep snow, her bare feet are cut by icy shards, and bleed with every step until she reaches her home. The next spring beautiful lady slippers bloom from the place where her moccasins were lost, and from every spot her injured feet touched. Drawing on Ojibwe sources, the authors of this fluid retelling have peppered the tale with native words and have used traditional elements, e.g., giving voice to the forces of nature. The accompanying watercolors, with flowing lines, jewel tones, and decorative motifs, give stately credence to the story’s iconic aspects. (Picture book/folklore. 4-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-90512-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1999
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