A good resource for established fans.
An informational guidebook to the characters and worldbuilding of the Dragon Masters series.
It seems that Griffith of the Green Fields, the royal wizard of the kingdom of Bracken, wants to compile his wizardly research and wisdom into a book, so he has enlisted his friend “Tracey of the West” to pull together a Dragon Masters guidebook from his notes and the contributions of his other friends. The book is primarily organized into illustration-heavy two-page spreads consisting of maps, character profiles (with plenty of information on each Dragon Master’s type of dragon, of course), important objects, and snippets of the world’s history. The diversity among Dragon Masters is foregrounded. The book explicitly states that the Dragon Masters come from all over the world (which is reflected in their racial presentations in the full-color illustrations as well as the cultural notes and illustrations of the regions they come from). Furthermore, some have disabilities, as they are no barrier to a person’s becoming a Dragon Master; all candidates need is to “have good hearts.” Though most profiles provide plenty of context clues as to any given character’s ethnicity and their kingdom’s real-world analog, a map placing characters on continents shaped like Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania erases ambiguity. There is an inescapably “It’s a Small World”–esque feel to it all, but it certainly means well. The informational format works well for reluctant and below–grade-level readers, and it will help maintain interest in the series for maturing readers more inclined to game guides than fiction.
A good resource for established fans. (Fantasy. 6-10)Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-54034-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
Not awe-ful.
The creator of An Awesome Book! (2012) and its titularly similar companions offers an alphabet of uplift.
In lines of sometimes forcibly compelled rhyme (“Q is for Quiet / To escape from the madness / R is for Reading / But also for radness”), Clayton blends hand-lettered, characteristically inspirational watchwords and exhortations to dream big, aim high and make the most of the day, the world and life. These he surrounds with a smattering of pictures of unlabeled but common items and animals that are drawn in an engagingly simple, artless way and start with the appropriate letter. (Generally anyway: Viewers will likely puzzle over the guitar on the “A” page, and is the inscrutable lumplet in “C” a Cocoon? A sea Cucumber?) Children may enjoy the intellectual exercise of identifying the tiny images more than winkling personal meaning out of “E is for Everything / under the sun” or “V is for Values / and keeping them true,” but the feel-good tone is catching, and the sentiments make fertile discussion fodder.
Not awe-ful. (Inspirational picture book. 6-8, adult)Pub Date: March 25, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5745-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2013
With a story like an old-fashioned episode of Star Trek, this is a wonderful science-fiction introduction for young readers.
Explore space with Geronimo Stiltonix, futuristic analog of the familiar Geronimo Stilton.
Geronimo Stiltonix, captain of the prestigious MouseStar 1, “would rather be writing novels than steering a spaceship.” His crew’s made up of, in part, other familiar Stilton characters with -ix added to their last names, the personal assistant robot Assistatrix and all-purpose robot Robotix. He may be captain, but Geronimo is the last to find out that his spaceship is in danger of exploding. To stabilize the engine, they must obtain the rare element tetrastellium. Luckily, a nearby planet, Rattos, might have some. Upon arriving, they are hailed by friendly pink mousoids who offer them tetrastellium. But their tetrastellium is pink instead of the customary blue. Even stranger, despite the great value and rarity of tetrastellium, the pink mousoids refuse any payment but friendship. Suspicious, Geronimo and a team go to Rattos’ surface on reconnaissance. Sure enough, strange pink happenings onboard the ship presage the takeover of the control room by an evil, sentient mass of pink goo. It takes clever thinking by the away team to defeat the goo and save the ship. The format includes the customary Stilton staples: wild types and colors, playful illustrations and sidebars that elaborate on aspects of the fictional world.
With a story like an old-fashioned episode of Star Trek, this is a wonderful science-fiction introduction for young readers. (the spacemice creed) (Graphic science fiction. 6-10)Pub Date: April 29, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-64650-5
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2014
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