A fine choice for reading aloud or alone, rich in creatures more magical than frightening.
Lively yarn-spinning, delightful illustrations, and handsome bookmaking again make a winning combination in this follow-up to the creators’ An Illustrated Treasury of Scottish Folk and Fairy Tales (2012).
Breslin opens with a tale of St. Columba and the Loch Ness monster and closes with an encounter between a clever fox and a cleverer young girl—adversaries who previously met, with a similar result, in the other collection’s closer. In between, she dishes up fluently retold versions of tales featuring a child selkie, mermen, and Wee Folk; a Robert Louis Stevenson cameo; Thomas the Rhymer’s sojourn with the queen of Faeryland; and how Finn MacCool built the Giant’s Causeway in order to fight the Scots giant Benandonner. With the exception of a skinless Nuckelavee that unwisely tangles with an old wise woman and is in any case left unseen, the monsters here are mostly benign sorts—even the draconic Island Beast snoozes peacefully in its only appearance and is rendered in such warm red and golden tones that it seems more decorative than dangerous. Leiper likewise supplies all 11 tales with bright illustrations that generally run evocatively along the broad margins and off the edges of the pages, offering not scenes of violence but idyllic glimpses of finely modeled small animals and objects, appealingly distracted figures in historical dress, and grassy Scottish hills.
A fine choice for reading aloud or alone, rich in creatures more magical than frightening. (glossary) (Folk tales. 7-12)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-7825-0195-4
Page Count: 194
Publisher: Floris
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
Provocative issues that never overwhelm storytelling make this a winner.
Vanguard Middle School’s no place for breaking rules; computerized Vice Principal Barbara sees to that.
Sixth-grader Maxine “Max” Zelaster and her friends struggle to pass the Federal School Board’s nonstop tests in the newly instituted Constant UpGrade program. The kids think they are doing well, but their grades don’t reflect their work. Their cumulative scores are dragged even lower by discipline tags and citizenship infractions, all noted by Barbara’s all-seeing electronic eyes. Enter Fuzzy, the government’s attempt to create a robot that will program itself. Scientists in the Robot Integration Program ask Max to show Fuzzy around because of her interest in robots, but this leads to further trouble for Max at school and at home; Barbara just seems to have it in for her. Fuzzy uncovers irregularities with test scoring and begins to suspect something’s wrong with the vice principal, but can he save his new friend Max while evading corporate spies and his creators’ plans for his future? Origami Yoda creator Angleberger teams up with science-fiction writer Dellinger for this funny, thrilling, and thought-provoking page-turner. Riffing on some of the same issues as Origami Yoda’s second trilogy—individuality and the dangers of standardized testing—the duo have crafted a day-after-tomorrow cautionary tale of friendship with a fuzzy, robotic heart.
Provocative issues that never overwhelm storytelling make this a winner. (Science fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 16, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2122-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
What’s meant to be a romp through a boy’s imagination occasionally feels more prescription than fun.
Henry Penwhistle knows he is the only one who can save the world, or at least his school, from his artwork.
When his drawing of a dragon comes alive and begins to take on the shapes of drawings Henry’s done in the past, Henry realizes that he is being called to a quest. Luckily, he’s wearing his raincoat—or, ahem, suit of armor. At school, the dragon wreaks havoc in the classroom, hallways, and even in the lunchroom, where the Lunch Lady is trying to prepare for an art show and pizza party. Henry and his friends must reach deep within themselves to find the courage and understanding necessary to keep the dragon from ruining everything. A tale about the power of art and the call for artists to share their art with the world without fear, this book tends to thrust its message to the forefront with a heavy hand, overshadowing the more charming aspects of the story. “You have to be brave to be an artist,” says Mr. Bruce, the bus driver. “You have to squeeze your fear down deep in your chest, and make something new.” Good advice, but it’s repeated too often in this short novel. All the humans in Schipper’s line drawings appear to be white.
What’s meant to be a romp through a boy’s imagination occasionally feels more prescription than fun. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-9863818-8-1
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Rabbit Room Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
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