The sight of a lynx kitten wearing a collar in the wintry Maine woods catalyzes a host of increasingly dangerous escapades for Cooper, Packrat, and friends.
Fans of aspiring game warden Cooper Wilder and his friend Packrat—whose useful collection of miscellany resides in his jacket’s many pockets—will enjoy following the boys as their attention turns from setting up (with friends Roy and Summer) the premier winter festival at the Wilder family’s campground to learning about a probable fur poacher nearby. When dog-sledder Wynter and her mother show up, the friends are torn between welcoming Wynter and distrusting her mother’s questionable behavior. Warden Kate proves a reliable female role model as each short, accessible chapter skillfully weaves information—including descriptions of lynx habits and laws protecting them, the mechanics of ice-fishing, building a snow fort, the sport of skijoring (which involves being pulled by a dog while wearing cross-country skis), and the difference between legal trapping and illegal poaching—into a suspenseful tale. First-person narrator Cooper’s voice is believable as a young teen who is both daring and mostly responsible—and who is starting to feel a change in his feelings toward his friend Summer. Part of the fun for readers is trying to outguess Cooper’s changing assessments as the clues pile up. Stylized, grayscale spot art is appropriately lighthearted and reassuring. All characters follow a White default.
Snowy fun and suspense Down East. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: June 21, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-952143-36-6
Page Count: 216
Publisher: Islandport Press
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2022
Categories: CHILDREN'S MYSTERY & THRILLER | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
With Ivan’s movie out this year from Disney, expect great interest—it will be richly rewarded.
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Tiny, sassy Bob the dog, friend of The One and Only Ivan (2012), returns to tell his tale.
Wisecracking Bob, who is a little bit Chihuahua among other things, now lives with his girl, Julia, and her parents. Happily, her father works at Wildworld Zoological Park and Sanctuary, the zoo where Bob’s two best friends, Ivan the gorilla and Ruby the elephant, live, so Bob gets to visit and catch up with them regularly. Due to an early betrayal, Bob doesn’t trust humans (most humans are good only for their thumbs); he fears he’s going soft living with Julia, and he’s certain he is a Bad Dog—as in “not a good representative of my species.” On a visit to the zoo with a storm threatening, Bob accidentally falls into the gorilla enclosure just as a tornado strikes. So that’s what it’s like to fly. In the storm’s aftermath, Bob proves to everyone (and finally himself) that there is a big heart in that tiny chest…and a brave one too. With this companion, Applegate picks up where her Newbery Medal winner left off, and fans will be overjoyed to ride along in the head of lovable, self-deprecating Bob on his storm-tossed adventure. His wry doggy observations and attitude are pitch perfect (augmented by the canine glossary and Castelao’s picture dictionary of dog postures found in the frontmatter). Gorilla Ivan described Julia as having straight, black hair in the previous title, and Castelao's illustrations in that volume showed her as pale-skinned. (Finished art not available for review.)
With Ivan’s movie out this year from Disney, expect great interest—it will be richly rewarded. (afterword) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 5, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-299131-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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Separated from his pack, Swift, a young wolf, embarks on a perilous search for a new home.
Swift’s mother impresses on him early that his “pack belongs to the mountains and the mountains belong to the pack.” His father teaches him to hunt elk, avoid skunks and porcupines, revere the life that gives them life, and “carry on” when their pack is devastated in an attack by enemy wolves. Alone and grieving, Swift reluctantly leaves his mountain home. Crossing into unfamiliar territory, he’s injured and nearly dies, but the need to run, hunt, and live drives him on. Following a routine of “walk-trot-eat-rest,” Swift traverses prairies, canyons, and deserts, encountering men with rifles, hunger, thirst, highways, wild horses, a cougar, and a forest fire. Never imagining the “world could be so big or that I could be so alone in it,” Swift renames himself Wander as he reaches new mountains and finds a new home. Rife with details of the myriad scents, sounds, tastes, touches, and sights in Swift/Wander’s primal existence, the immediacy of his intimate, first-person, present-tense narration proves deeply moving, especially his longing for companionship. Realistic black-and-white illustrations trace key events in this unique survival story, and extensive backmatter fills in further factual information about wolves and their habitat.
A sympathetic, compelling introduction to wolves from the perspective of one wolf and his memorable journey. (additional resources, map) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-289593-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
Categories: CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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