An inspiring ecosystem of kind creatures work together to make the impossible possible.
An abandoned stuffed bear makes his way home with a lot of help in Leonie’s chapter book for young readers.
Luna the dog has Jonas’ best friend Albert in her mouth, and Albert is in big trouble. Jonas is a little boy with light brown hair and fair-colored skin; Jonas’ best friend Albert is a well-loved stuffed bear. By the time Aunt Mina comes to the rescue, Albert has been ripped almost to shreds. Jonas convinces Aunt Mina to sew Albert back together, but when grumpy Uncle David arrives home, he puts his foot down: “You can’t call that repulsive thing a stuffed animal anymore. It reeks of old dog slobber. That rag isn’t even suitable for Luna to chew on. First thing tomorrow, we’ll go to the toy store to get Jonas the biggest and shiniest bear we can find.” Uncle David throws Albert into the nearest receptacle—the compost bin. Inside the bin, Albert meets a surprisingly charming maggot named Maud, who introduces him to her friends: Timo the mouse, Kelvin the beetle, and Sofia the snail. Together, the creatures hatch a plan to help Albert return home to Jonas. After some death-defying stunts and near-misses, Timo gets Albert inside the house, but for the homestretch, they’ll need Luna’s help. Interspersed with the text are childlike hand-drawn illustrations with watercolor backgrounds;the characters are portrayed with intricate detail. The adventure story is dynamic, enthralling, and sometimes contemplative. Albert often reflects on things he has learned from Jonas about nature to help him along his quest, and appreciates the differences that make all the creatures he meets special. (Upon meeting Vera, the spider: “Once the initial wave of fear passes, he finds himself fascinated. He’s never been this close to a spider before and Vera’s an extraordinary sight. She spins flawless silk from her underbelly and her movements are deliberate and graceful.”) In Albert, readers will find an environmentally conscious, brave, and deeply sympathetic protagonist who is willing to do anything for his best friend.
An inspiring ecosystem of kind creatures work together to make the impossible possible.Pub Date: Dec. 28, 2024
ISBN: 9781068575990
Page Count: 79
Publisher: Fidessa Literary
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Dizzyingly silly.
The famous superhero returns to fight another villain with all the trademark wit and humor the series is known for.
Despite the title, Captain Underpants is bizarrely absent from most of this adventure. His school-age companions, George and Harold, maintain most of the spotlight. The creative chums fool around with time travel and several wacky inventions before coming upon the evil Turbo Toilet 2000, making its return for vengeance after sitting out a few of the previous books. When the good Captain shows up to save the day, he brings with him dynamic action and wordplay that meet the series’ standards. The Captain Underpants saga maintains its charm even into this, the 11th volume. The epic is filled to the brim with sight gags, toilet humor, flip-o-ramas and anarchic glee. Holding all this nonsense together is the author’s good-natured sense of harmless fun. The humor is never gross or over-the-top, just loud and innocuous. Adults may roll their eyes here and there, but youngsters will eat this up just as quickly as they devoured every other Underpants episode.
Dizzyingly silly. (Humor. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-50490-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda.
Hank Zipzer, poster boy for dyslexic middle graders everywhere, stars in a new prequel series highlighting second-grade trials and triumphs.
Hank’s hopes of playing Aqua Fly, a comic-book character, in the upcoming class play founder when, despite plenty of coaching and preparation, he freezes up during tryouts. He is not particularly comforted when his sympathetic teacher adds a nonspeaking role as a bookmark to the play just for him. Following the pattern laid down in his previous appearances as an older child, he gets plenty of help and support from understanding friends (including Ashley Wong, a new apartment-house neighbor). He even manages to turn lemons into lemonade with a quick bit of improv when Nick “the Tick” McKelty, the sneering classmate who took his preferred role, blanks on his lines during the performance. As the aforementioned bully not only chokes in the clutch and gets a demeaning nickname, but is fat, boastful and eats like a pig, the authors’ sensitivity is rather one-sided. Still, Hank has a winning way of bouncing back from adversity, and like the frequent black-and-white line-and-wash drawings, the typeface is designed with easy legibility in mind.
An uncomplicated opener, with some funny bits and a clear but not heavy agenda. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-448-48239-2
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2014
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