This gentle, lightly magical story leans on the comfort of familiarity over novelty.
This first installment in a Heidi Heckelbeck series spinoff stars Heidi’s younger brother.
Henry Heckelbeck’s perfectly fine with being an ordinary person, unlike his female witch relatives. A kid focused on saving time, Henry’s excited about being prepared for another year at school. For their first assignment, Henry and his classmates must make All About Me bags containing three items that reveal things about them. While trying to get his remote-controlled toy dragon off the shelf to complete his bag, Henry stumbles upon a mysterious old book containing both a medal and a personal dragon spell. When putting on the medal and chanting the spell unexpectedly brings his toy dragon to life, Henry must catch his dragon and keep the magical mischief under wraps. A secondary character named Mackenzie “Max” Maplethorpe (in case readers miss it, Henry makes the connection between Max and Heidi’s classmate Melanie Maplethorpe) is a particularly observant threat to Henry’s new, magical secret. Although the broad strokes of setup and plotline are beyond familiar, Henry’s character—high energy and believably quirky—makes up for a lot. Aside from the story, the familiar format’s large print with easy words and frequent picture breaks results in an unintimidating book for emergent independent readers. The illustrations—black line art on white page—generally lack racial cues, though on the cover Henry is depicted with light skin.
This gentle, lightly magical story leans on the comfort of familiarity over novelty. (Fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5344-6104-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
First of a tasty if not immediately nourishing new series.
When Dr. Bunsen, Gabe, Laura, and Cesar's mad-scientist neighbor, tries out his growth machine on Gabe's plastic animal toys, there's an unexpected result—they come to life.
Second-grade whiz kids Gabriel Martinez, Laura Reyes, and Cesar Moreno meet their strange neighbor while fundraising for a science-club field trip. Known to their classmates as “the Data Set,” they each have individual passions: Gabe loves animals; Laura loves to tinker and invent; Cesar loves to read and eat. There’s room for all these activities in their well-equipped treehouse. Together, their fantastic adventures will be the stuff of four titles scheduled for 2016 and aimed directly at first- and second-graders already devouring books. This episode introduces the characters, sets up the problem (the cute but rapidly growing baby animals), and finds a solution (sneak them into the zoo) in 126 fast-paced pages written with plenty of dialogue and copiously illustrated with appealing drawings. With these Latino protagonists—Cesar has dark skin and curly hair, while Laura and Gabe have lighter skin and straight hair—and a STEM-infused plot, this would seem to have been made to order for today’s elementary school students. While the emphasis is far more on plot than STEM, the kid-friendly fantasy should captivate readers, who will certainly want to gobble up the next installment. (Tantalizingly, the opening pages are included.)
First of a tasty if not immediately nourishing new series. (Adventure. 5-8)Pub Date: April 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-5729-3
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2016
An enigmatic, quirky representation of an active imagination in search of understanding and companionship.
A child finds connection to the world all around in this Korean import.
The illustrations in this unusual picture book achieve a 3-D effect reminiscent of claymation. The opening scene shows an aerial view of a playground scattered with maple and gingko leaves; a tethered dog watches a child aiming at marbles. Accustomed to spending time alone and solitary play, Tong Tong’s fertile imagination infuses a bag of assorted spherical hard candies with powers that give voice to unlikely speakers, such as the living room sofa and Marbles the old dog, each speaking with Tong Tong to share a sentient perspective. The hard candies also channel the tough love hidden within Tong Tong’s father and Grandma’s bubbly, reassuring voice emanating from another realm. The candies’ magic reveals yet another dimension when Tong Tong is drawn outdoors to witness nature’s beauty as copious falling leaves bid farewell to the season. Through these uncanny exchanges, Tong Tong not only makes surprising discoveries, but also delves into complex emotions, celebrates a continuing relationship with Grandma, and takes courageous steps toward a tantalizing conclusion. The enhanced artwork establishes depth and perspective, featuring details some may find initially unsettling—along with the cryptic, open-ended narrative. That said, depictions of facial expressions are skillful and endearing, and the interplay between text and illustrations will cause readers to linger and ponder.
An enigmatic, quirky representation of an active imagination in search of understanding and companionship. (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2959-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Amazon Crossing Kids
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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