by The Brothers Grimm & illustrated by Maja Dusíková ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2012
A fine choice for princess lovers and traditionalists.
“Once upon a time, a king and a queen used to say to each other every day, ‘If only we could have a child!’ ”
Readers will eagerly embrace this sparkling retelling of the classic tale, which comes to life through delicate, ethereal illustrations by renowned Czech illustrator Dusíková. Soft-focused pictures, reminiscent of the work of Lisbeth Zwerger, glow in a rosy palette as they depict the king and queen blessed with a sweet princess who is cursed by a vengeful and forgotten fairy. Straightforward text with just the right amount of detail gracefully presents the story as the illustrations follow closely along, bursting into bloom as the appropriate prince arrives to greet the sleeping princess with his kiss. Readers interested in the history of the tale will have to look elsewhere, but fans of fairy tales and princesses will happily lose themselves in the subtle details and dreamlike quality of the pictures; replete with sprightly courtiers, evocative stone stairways and turrets, sumptuous fabrics and lively animals, this luminous fairy-tale world radiates warmth and magic—and, naturally, provides a very happy ending.
A fine choice for princess lovers and traditionalists. (Picture book/fairy tale. 6-10)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7358-4087-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: Aug. 28, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2012
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by Chris Van Dusen ; illustrated by Chris Van Dusen ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2019
An all-day sugar rush, putting the “fun” back into, er, education.
A young visionary describes his ideal school: “Perfectly planned and impeccably clean. / On a scale, 1 to 10, it’s more like 15!”
In keeping with the self-indulgently fanciful lines of If I Built a Car (2005) and If I Built a House (2012), young Jack outlines in Seussian rhyme a shiny, bright, futuristic facility in which students are swept to open-roofed classes in clear tubes, there are no tests but lots of field trips, and art, music, and science are afterthoughts next to the huge and awesome gym, playground, and lunchroom. A robot and lots of cute puppies (including one in a wheeled cart) greet students at the door, robotically made-to-order lunches range from “PB & jelly to squid, lightly seared,” and the library’s books are all animated popups rather than the “everyday regular” sorts. There are no guards to be seen in the spacious hallways—hardly any adults at all, come to that—and the sparse coed student body features light- and dark-skinned figures in roughly equal numbers, a few with Asian features, and one in a wheelchair. Aside from the lack of restrooms, it seems an idyllic environment—at least for dog-loving children who prefer sports and play over quieter pursuits.
An all-day sugar rush, putting the “fun” back into, er, education. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-525-55291-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
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by Henry Winkler ; Lin Oliver ; illustrated by Scott Garrett ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 14, 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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