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The Adventures of Jack and Rugby

Name: The Adventures of Jack and Rugby
Author: Tory Beale
ISBN: 978-1935530312

THE BIG TRIP

by Tory Beale Cynthia Messer ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 10, 2011

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In the fourth installment in Beale and Messer’s (The Adventures of Jack and Rugby: Best Friends, 2011, etc.) children’s book series, two dogs embark on a mountainside adventure.
Canine best-buds Jack and Rugby go on an overnight trip in the mountains, in a story based on a real-life excursion the authors’ families took together. An opening one-page primer on the two dogs, who are based on the authors’ real-life pets, throws their differences into relief: Jack is a trim and adventurous black Labrador, while Rugby is a giant, cuddly poodle with perpetual bed-head. The story, told from the dogs’ points of view, uses straightforward prose suitable for elementary-school readers. It lays out a meticulous plot about climbing a mountain in the California Sierras, with punctuated asides detailing the dogs’ thoughts and movements. As they venture up the trails, they run, climb and swim. The two explorers approach the great outdoors very differently; Jack bounds into streams and lakes at the first opportunity, as Rugby timidly approaches the water, not wanting to get wet. The next morning, when they come upon a sizable lake near the summit, Rugby finally is brave (and overheated) enough to join Jack in the mountain water. Adventures feel less scary with your best friend, the story concludes, before the two head back down the mountain at sunset. Full-size color photos accompany most pages of text, and smaller, framed snapshots of the dogs at play give the story an appealing family-photo-album feel. The narration effectively shows Jack’s and Rugby’s shifting moods and emotions, which give the characters depth. However, it also sometimes distances readers from the camping experience, as they often engage with the dogs’ interior lives, rather than with the simple pleasures of watching dogs at play.
An often engaging children’s story of a rugged, exhausting day in the mountains with two dog friends.

Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2011

ISBN: 978-1935530312

Page Count: -

Publisher: Park Place Publications

Review Posted Online: July 2, 2014

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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TALES FOR VERY PICKY EATERS

by Josh Schneider & illustrated by Josh Schneider ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2011

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Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)

Pub Date: May 1, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Clarion Books

Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
ULTRABOT'S FIRST PLAYDATE
by Josh Schneider ; illustrated by Josh Schneider

- BOOK REVIEW
KID AMAZING VS. THE BLOB
by Josh Schneider ; illustrated by Josh Schneider

- BOOK REVIEW
EVERYBODY SLEEPS (BUT NOT FRED)
by Josh Schneider ; illustrated by Josh Schneider

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ABIYOYO RETURNS

by Pete Seeger & Paul Dubois Jacobs & illustrated by Michael Hays ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2001

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The seemingly ageless Seeger brings back his renowned giant for another go in a tuneful tale that, like the art, is a bit sketchy, but chockful of worthy messages. Faced with yearly floods and droughts since they’ve cut down all their trees, the townsfolk decide to build a dam—but the project is stymied by a boulder that is too huge to move. Call on Abiyoyo, suggests the granddaughter of the man with the magic wand, then just “Zoop Zoop” him away again. But the rock that Abiyoyo obligingly flings aside smashes the wand. How to avoid Abiyoyo’s destruction now? Sing the monster to sleep, then make it a peaceful, tree-planting member of the community, of course. Seeger sums it up in a postscript: “every community must learn to manage its giants.” Hays, who illustrated the original (1986), creates colorful, if unfinished-looking, scenes featuring a notably multicultural human cast and a towering Cubist fantasy of a giant. The song, based on a Xhosa lullaby, still has that hard-to-resist sing-along potential, and the themes of waging peace, collective action, and the benefits of sound ecological practices are presented in ways that children will both appreciate and enjoy. (Picture book. 5-9)