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
A solid start to a new chapter-book series.
Archie Morningstar has been waiting for “eight years, eight months, and eight days” to ride along with his taxicab-driving father. But when the night finally arrives, the experience proves to be out of this world.
Archie had been looking forward to seeing more of the city, but his father is no ordinary cabbie. He drives a space taxi, with fares all over the known universe. Archie serves as his father’s co-pilot for the night, helping him navigate wormholes, avoid asteroid fields and work the taxi’s thrusters. But things get really interesting when Archie meets Intergalactic Security Force deputy Pilarbing Fangorius Catapolitus, aka Pockets, a talking space police cat who can shoot lasers out of his tail. Together, cat and boy take down a dangerous member of the evil organization BURP. Archie can hardly believe his luck when his father agrees not only to allow Pockets to live with them, but to take Archie on as his permanent co-pilot. Zany adventures, a wacky plot and plenty of slapstick humor make this a quick, enjoyable read. Simple illustrations and a trio of scientific definitions add to the narrative.
A solid start to a new chapter-book series. (Adventure. 6-9)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-316-24319-3
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Eeney meeney miney moe, catch this series before it goes! (Adventure. 7-9)
Two kids get up close and personal with some great works of art in this first in a new series.
Tiger Brooks is used to his little sister’s fantastical stories. So when the top-hatted orange pig she describes turns out to be not only real, but a next-door neighbor, Tiger enlists the help of his kooky new friend, Luna, to investigate. It turns out the pig works for the reclusive painter Viola Dots. Years ago a magical picture frame swallowed up her only son, and she’s searched for him in artworks ever since. When Tiger’s tinkering starts the magic up again, he and Luna are sucked into a reproduction of Henri Rousseau’s Surprised! or Tiger in a Tropical Storm, hungry predator and all. After meeting and failing to rescue Viola’s son in this adventure, the series is set up for the intrepid pair to infiltrate other classic paintings in the future. Backmatter provides information on the real Rousseau and his life. Oliver keeps the plot itself snappy and peppy. While there are few surprises, there’s also an impressive lack of lag time. This is helped in no small part by Kallis’ art, which goes from pen-and-ink drawings to full-blown color images once the kids cross over into the painting. Tiger is a white boy, and Luna is a dark-haired Latina.
Eeney meeney miney moe, catch this series before it goes! (Adventure. 7-9)Pub Date: April 26, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-448-48087-9
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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