A wholesome, heartwarming series of exploits.
A young outcast finds new friends in a magical underground land in this middle-grade novel.
Jimmy Crikey is a little boy with blue eyes, bright red hair, pointy ears, and adult-sized feet. Jimmy lives with his Aunt Ethel and is happy at home. But at school, he is teased and bullied because of his appearance. In Part 1 of the book, Jimmy runs away in search of greater acceptance and falls down a hole into Roombelow, an underground world. Jimmy makes his first real friend when he rescues Gemma, a “little lady,” from the bottom of the town well. He is soon accepted by the townsfolk, who are quick to recognize his kindheartedness and selfless bravery. After a flurry of brief escapades, it is clear that Jimmy has found a new home. Part 2 is more measured and takes Jimmy and Gemma to Lithania, a nearby land of caverns and tunnels. Lithania is lit by precious crystals, the theft of which brings about a great adventure. In Part 3 of the book, Jimmy returns by spaceship to his birthplace—the planet Attalia, where all the men have red hair, pointed ears, and feet as big as Jimmy’s. In this last episode, can Jimmy help the peace-loving Attalians defend their world from Kursh, the militant leader of the nearby planet Ock? Jimmy’s adventures call to mind Enid Blyton’s classic Noddy stories or, more recently, the Tashi books of Anna Fienberg. Jimmy and his friends are models of good behavior and succeed due to their positive qualities. For the most part, the perils they find themselves in are those of circumstance and misunderstanding (rather than villainy). The danger is therefore safe for young readers. Briggs writes in a straightforward manner but with a vocabulary stretching to the upper reaches of the target age group. The pacing of the three sections changes from fast to slow to medium, but the characters are lovable, upbeat, and ever bonhomous. Occasional full-page pencil images by debut illustrator Sledzikowska bring them further to life. Budding bookworms will find plenty to chew on.
A wholesome, heartwarming series of exploits.Pub Date: June 11, 2020
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 302
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Aug. 14, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A heaping portion of humor for bibliophiles.
Is it possible to love books too much?
Neither a traditional picture book nor one with a controlled vocabulary to support emergent readers, this Canadian import is an illustrated story about extreme bibliophilia. The eponymous vulpine protagonist loves to read and then, as the title suggests, eat his books. When he runs out of reading/eating material, he sells off furniture to secure more, and after some hungry times, he ventures into the library to satiate his hunger. A wily librarian soon discovers his bibliophagic tendencies and bans him from entering ever again, leading Mr. Fox to a life of crime. He steals books from a bookstore but doesn’t get away with the theft and so ends up in prison. There, he persuades a guard to supply him with pen and paper and writes a novel. It’s delicious. But before Mr. Fox eats his book, the guard reads it, copies it, and decides to publish it. Fame and fortune follow, so when Mr. Fox is freed from prison he's leading a life of luxury with endless books to read and eat. Biermann’s text and cartoon-style illustrations work together to humorous effect, the latter heightening the story’s absurdity with pictures that expand on each plot point. The prison guard lying on the couch with a bowl of popcorn as the events in Mr. Fox’s story unfurl above him is a particularly potent image.
A heaping portion of humor for bibliophiles. (Fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Oct. 11, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-55451-846-3
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2016
The tongue-in-cheek tale goes on, with enticing hints of adventures and revelations to come.
In a third episode set in the (supposedly) witch-ridden Italian town, curious Maria Beppina makes a startling discovery when she stops running from the scary “Clopper.”
Interwoven with events from previous tales, Maria Beppina’s act of courage comes after her cousin Primo hands her the gold ring he has found in a fish. What she subsequently turns to face is not a fearsome monster but a friendly if eccentric old lady who wears one wooden clog and lives with a trio of odd companions. Being something of an outsider, as she and her widowed father have moved to the village from Naples, the usually resolutely honest white girl later concocts for the other children a terrifying yarn featuring a cackling witch and a cooking pot. Her guilt is sharp but short-lived, and by the end she’s going back to revisit her new friend(s). Though as usual Marciano appends a “Witchonary” and a history of the real town, he’s been cagey throughout about whether there are actual witches and demons at work—until now, at least (though he could still be having us on). Blackall supplies a map and festoons the compact-format tale with lively scenes of apple-cheeked children in dress that evokes the 1820s small-town setting.
The tongue-in-cheek tale goes on, with enticing hints of adventures and revelations to come. (Fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-451-47182-6
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
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