by Thomas Flintham ; illustrated by Thomas Flintham ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 3, 2017
A strong series start.
In a video game, a superpowered rabbit must rescue a singing dog that brings everyone happiness.
In the frame story, a brown-skinned human protagonist plays a video game on a handheld console evocative of the classic Nintendo Gameboy. The bulk of the book relates the game’s storyline: Animal Town is a peaceful place where everyone is delighted by Singing Dog, until the fun-hating King Viking (whose black-mustachioed, pink-skinned looks reference the Super Mario Brothers game series villain, Wario) uses his army of robots to abduct Singing Dog. To save Singing Dog—and fun—the animals send the fastest among them, Simon the Hedgehog, to get Super Rabbit Boy (who gains speed and jumping powers by eating special carrots) to save the day. The chapters take Super Rabbit Boy through video game levels, with classic, video game–style settings and enemies. Throughout the book, when the game’s player loses either a life in the game or the game entirely, the unnamed kid must choose to persevere and not give up. The storylines are differentiated by colorful art styles—cartoonish for the real world, 8-bit pixel-sprite–style for the game. The fast, repetitive plot uses basic, simple sentences and child-friendly objects of interest, such as lakes of lava, for children working on reading independence, while the nerdy in-jokes benefit adults reading with a child.
A strong series start. (Early reader. 5-7)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-338-03472-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Branches/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
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by Cyndi Marko ; illustrated by Cyndi Marko ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 25, 2014
Fans will be glad Kung Pow has at least two more adventures on the way.
Fowladelphia is under attack by Dr. Screech. Can Kung Pow Chicken save the day?
Gordon Blue may appear to be an average, ordinary second-grade chicken, but not long ago, he and his brother, Benedict, fell into a vat of toxic sludge in their uncle’s lab and emerged with superchicken powers. Gordon and Benny now have secret superidentities: Kung Pow Chicken and Egg Drop. In series opener Let’s Get Cracking (2014), they put Granny Goosebumps away for her evil plot to make money off of featherless chickens. Now, they have to keep their secret identities secret (especially from their mom), and nosy reporter Sam Snood is trying to expose them. When opera singer Honey Comb is chicken-napped by Dr. Screech during a performance, Kung Pow and Egg Drop crack into action. Dr. Screech gets away. Unfortunately, Sam Snood snaps some pictures and insinuates that Kung Pow is in cahoots with Dr. Screech! The boys have to enlist Uncle Quack’s help to hunt down the nefarious evildoer. Can they save the opera and Fowladelphia and clear their names? Marko’s second of four Kung Pow Chicken high-interest, fast reads for the just-ready-for-chapters reader continues Gordon’s adventures nicely, with plenty of punny action in the colorful mix of comic panels and short paragraphs of text.
Fans will be glad Kung Pow has at least two more adventures on the way. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 5-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-61064-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Branches/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 30, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2013
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by Neha Singh ; illustrated by Sonal Gupta ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 11, 2014
A few moments of distress capped by a happy ending and an iced lolly—all stories should end so well.
A communal effort reunites a lost child with her mother in this invitingly told and illustrated import.
On their weekly outing to buy vegetables, young Bela suddenly loses sight of her quick-moving mother. Her cries attract a boy with a goat (the goat also bleats “Ma!”), a tightrope walker and others who link hands to form a chain of helpers: “ ‘I see her Ma, she is walking near the peepal tree!’ ‘He sees her Ma near the peepal tree!’ ‘Her Ma! Peepal tree!’ ” With each Ma spotting, she runs from one landmark to another until at last she hears her name called. Bela’s “I found her!” and “Thank you!” pass back down the line as she rejoins her mother at the iced-lolly cart, and the two stroll home together. Using warm reds and golds as predominant colors, Gupta depicts uncrowded market scenes from, often, elevated angles so that Bela and her mother are both visible to viewers. Bela wears a spotted shift and her mother, a blue and yellow “saree”; other figures display a similar mix of modern and traditional garb. Bela’s plight is taken seriously, but the overall tone is relaxed. It’s lightened further by visual parallels between the delicate curlicues in the roofs and walls of the long rows of market stalls and the extravagantly curled mustaches sported by most of the men.
A few moments of distress capped by a happy ending and an iced lolly—all stories should end so well. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2014
ISBN: 978-81-8190-295-5
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Karadi Tales
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
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