School is starting again on tiny Seal Island, and all the children are excited about their new classmates: Clara and Sophie Hall. Picking up the story from Seal Island School (1999), the addition of two new students to their cozy one-room school changes the social fabric in ways the children had not anticipated. Nicholas, who has been best friends with Prudence for a year, is getting older and appears to be a tad smitten with Clara. Prudence feels strange about this unexpected development, and doesn’t quite know what to do. In addition to the school adjustments, a controversy is brewing. The children’s fairy houses are being destroyed. Building fairy houses in the woods has been a hobby of island children for many generations, and the children are upset. The seven children try a little youthful espionage, but are still surprised at the culprit: one of their environmentally minded mothers is knocking down their houses. An island meeting is called, accusations fly, and the children come up with the solution that everyone can be happy with. Tusa’s jolly black-and-white illustrations, with her round-faced island children, bring this sweet story to life. Bartlett celebrates island life without romanticizing it. What child wouldn’t want to be free to walk anywhere in his community, dress up a pony with a sign, cavort in the woods, meet the ferry every day, and attend school with every one of his friends and the sensible, lovable Miss Sparling? A treasure for new readers. (Fiction. 6-9)
Pub Date: July 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-670-03533-5
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In a nutshell: short and sweet.
Always be prepared...to be underprepared.
Scaredy Squirrel is perfectly happy to stay in his nut tree, away from the myriad dangers plaguing the outside world, like aliens, germs, cacti, and evil dust bunnies. Or, as the case may turn out to be, not-so-evil dust-free bunnies, who do pesky and panic-inducing things like clog Scaredy’s trusty vacuum and try to make friends. In a nutshell: a risky situation! Scaredy, of course, has constructed contingency plans for his contingency plans in hopes of avoiding such situations (when in doubt, play dead). But the best-laid plans of squirrels and men oft go awry, leading Scaredy to discover that sometimes, a risk can yield a mighty (and tasty) reward. With this outing, Watt gives her award-winning Scaredy Squirrel picture-book series, published over a decade ago, a graphic-novel upgrade for a contemporary audience. Fortunately, no familiarity with the series is required to quickly get a grasp of this quirky, querulous, and ultimately rather adorable character. The simple story is enlivened by bold, expressive artwork and stylistic embellishments; Scaredy, an overthinker top to tail, is especially fond of lists and charts. An impressive collection of fears and cameos, including the insidiously ubiquitous Gary the Germ, promises plenty of nutty adventures to come (confirmed in the concluding FAQ).
In a nutshell: short and sweet. (Graphic fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: May 25, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-30755-7
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The grown-ups who buy this will already, like their offspring, have bought the message
The creators of A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo (2018) press another topical hot button.
Replete with twee Capital Letters, the tale sends Jitterbug the chipmunk skittering from her cozy nest in search of the Something New that her sensitive tummy tells her has come to the forest. Along the way she meets friends who share important thoughts she tucks away as irrelevant but “good information.” The Something turns out to be a Someone, namely slow-talking Pudding the snail, a refugee from the recently flooded garden over the hill. Prompted by fear of change, Jitterbug peremptorily orders Pudding to turn back. But when her less jittery animal neighbors gang up to point out that she’s being irrational, Jitterbug acknowledges her mistake. Back comes Pudding (who hadn’t gotten very far anyway) to make a new home and become a Very Good Friend. In splashy digital watercolors Keller adds at least some flavor to the precious narrative, placing animated forest creatures with mildly anthropomorphic postures and expressions into pleasant sylvan surroundings and strapping a backpack atop Pudding’s brightly striped shell. Jitterbug may judge the thought that “even though New can be scary, kindness is stronger than fear” to be “very good information,” but her change of heart at the shrink-wrapped climax comes with superficial ease.
The grown-ups who buy this will already, like their offspring, have bought the message . (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: June 4, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-293374-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 25, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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