Daniela, girl captain of a fearsome pirate ship, contends with a band of pirate girls whose reputation is outstripping hers.
Daniela’s ship, the Black Croc, receives word that some merfolk are trapped in a cave. They heroically travel and dive to free them…only to discover that the Fearless Piranhas beat them to it. Daniela sets out to find this all-girl band of pirates to see if they’re as great as the merfolk say they are. On their quest, they discover more people and animals who’ve been saved by the Fearless Piranhas—who have by now obtained the lost treasure for which the Black Croc had been searching. Their pursuit carries them into a storm, where they find the Fearless Piranhas’ ship has been overturned. Despite their differences, Daniela and her crew work with a whale to rescue their rivals. The two bands reconcile and go on to have amazing adventures together, including sharing the treasure. Pirate-loving children are bound to enjoy this fun story of jealousy and overcoming differences. The brightly colored illustrations are busy assemblages of goofy faces, with little space for the eye to rest on most spreads. The multiracial cast features a white Daniela and a black captain of the Piranhas, both with orange hair, though some of the depictions of black and Asian characters sway toward the stereotypical. The book is a Spanish import, and the Spanish-language original publishes simultaneously in the U.S.
A solid story with illustrations that don’t quite measure up. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 11, 2020
ISBN: 978-84-17673-27-7
Page Count: 44
Publisher: nubeOCHO
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2020
Categories: CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION
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Action, clever humor, delightful illustrations and expectation-defying secret identities—when does the next one come out?
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Perfect Princess Magnolia has a secret—her alter ego is the Princess in Black, a superhero figure who protects the kingdom!
When nosy Duchess Wigtower unexpectedly drops by Princess Magnolia’s castle, Magnolia must protect her secret identity from the duchess’s prying. But then Magnolia’s monster alarm, a glitter-stone ring, goes off. She must save the day, leaving the duchess unattended in her castle. After a costume change, the Princess in Black joins her steed, Blacky (public identity: Frimplepants the unicorn), to protect Duff the goat boy and his goats from a shaggy, blue, goat-eating monster. When the monster refuses to see reason, Magnolia fights him, using special moves like the “Sparkle Slam” and the “Twinkle Twinkle Little Smash.” The rounded, cartoony illustrations featuring chubby characters keep the fight sequence soft and comical. Watching the fight, Duff notices suspicious similarities between the Princess in Black and Magnolia—quickly dismissed as “a silly idea”—much like the duchess’s dismissal of some discovered black stockings as being simply dirty, as “princesses don’t wear black.” The gently ironic text will amuse readers (including adults reading the book aloud). The large print and illustrations expand the book to a longish-yet-manageable length, giving newly independent readers a sense of accomplishment. The ending hints at another hero, the Goat Avenger.
Action, clever humor, delightful illustrations and expectation-defying secret identities—when does the next one come out? (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6510-4
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2014
Categories: CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION
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The town of Sunnyview got a little bit safer when 8-year-old Eugene McGillicudy moved in.
Just like his comic-book mentor, Super Dude, Eugene, aka Captain Awesome, is on a one-man mission is to save the world from supervillains, like the nefarious “Queen Stinkypants from Planet Baby.” Just as Eugene suspected, plenty of new supervillains await him at Sunnyview Elementary. Are Meredith Mooney and the mind-reading Ms. Beasley secretly working together to try and force Eugene to reveal his secret identity? Will Principal Brick Foot succeed in throwing Captain Awesome into the “Dungeon of Detention?” Fortunately, Eugene isn’t forced to go it alone. Charlie Thomas Jones, fellow comic-book lover and Super Dude fan, stands ready and willing to help. When the class hamster goes missing, Captain Awesome must don his cape and, with the help of his new best friend, ride to the rescue. Kirby’s funny and engaging third-person narration and O’Connor’s hilarious illustrations make the book easily accessible and enormously appealing, particularly to readers who have recently graduated to chapter books. But it is the quirky, mischievous Eugene that really makes this book special. His energy and humor are contagious, and his dogged commitment to his superhero alter ego is enough to make anyone a believer.
As Captain Awesome would say, this kid is “MI-TEE!” (Fiction. 5-8)Pub Date: April 3, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-4090-6
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2012
Categories: CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION
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