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WATER PLANET RESCUE

From the Space Taxi series , Vol. 2

Its likable hero is just one reason to love this intergalactic space adventure.

Newly recruited Intergalactic Security Force deputy Archie Morningstar prepares for his first mission as co-pilot and navigator aboard his father’s space taxi.

When Pockets, a fellow agent who just happens to be a talking cat, gets the call to investigate a mysterious weather situation on the planet Nautilus, the three fire up the taxi and blast off. However, since Nautilus is a water planet, they will need to make a pit stop at Akbar’s Floating Rest Stop to modify their taxi, pick up some new gadgets and scarf down some bagels. Archie quickly learns that extraterrestrials come in all forms. On Nautilus, those who live under the sea or above water all look decidedly fishy. Unfortunately, something is happening to all the water, putting both civilizations in danger. Archie and his fellow deputies quickly discover that the evil organization B.U.R.P. is to blame—and it is up to them to thwart their plans. With wacky adventure, imaginative settings and wildly varied ETs, this series has endless potential. Archie’s sense of wonder and dedication to his newfound responsibility are inspirational. Line drawings and a trio of science facts further enhance this enjoyable interstellar romp.

Its likable hero is just one reason to love this intergalactic space adventure. (Adventure. 6-9)

Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-316-24323-0

Page Count: 128

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: July 28, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2014

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HOW TO CATCH A GINGERBREAD MAN

From the How To Catch… series

A brisk if bland offering for series fans, but cleverer metafictive romps abound.

The titular cookie runs off the page at a bookstore storytime, pursued by young listeners and literary characters.

Following on 13 previous How To Catch… escapades, Wallace supplies sometimes-tortured doggerel and Elkerton, a set of helter-skelter cartoon scenes. Here the insouciant narrator scampers through aisles, avoiding a series of elaborate snares set by the racially diverse young storytime audience with help from some classic figures: “Alice and her mad-hat friends, / as a gift for my unbirthday, / helped guide me through the walls of shelves— / now I’m bound to find my way.” The literary helpers don’t look like their conventional or Disney counterparts in the illustrations, but all are clearly identified by at least a broad hint or visual cue, like the unnamed “wizard” who swoops in on a broom to knock over a tower labeled “Frogwarts.” Along with playing a bit fast and loose with details (“Perhaps the boy with the magic beans / saved me with his cow…”) the author discards his original’s lip-smacking climax to have the errant snack circling back at last to his book for a comfier sort of happily-ever-after.

A brisk if bland offering for series fans, but cleverer metafictive romps abound. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-7282-0935-7

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland

Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021

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FIELD TRIP TO THE MOON

A close encounter of the best kind.

Left behind when the space bus departs, a child discovers that the moon isn’t as lifeless as it looks.

While the rest of the space-suited class follows the teacher like ducklings, one laggard carrying crayons and a sketchbook sits down to draw our home planet floating overhead, falls asleep, and wakes to see the bus zooming off. The bright yellow bus, the gaggle of playful field-trippers, and even the dull gray boulders strewn over the equally dull gray lunar surface have a rounded solidity suggestive of Plasticine models in Hare’s wordless but cinematic scenes…as do the rubbery, one-eyed, dull gray creatures (think: those stress-busting dolls with ears that pop out when squeezed) that emerge from the regolith. The mutual shock lasts but a moment before the lunarians eagerly grab the proffered crayons to brighten the bland gray setting with silly designs. The creatures dive into the dust when the bus swoops back down but pop up to exchange goodbye waves with the errant child, who turns out to be an olive-skinned kid with a mop of brown hair last seen drawing one of their new friends with the one crayon—gray, of course—left in the box. Body language is expressive enough in this debut outing to make a verbal narrative superfluous.

A close encounter of the best kind. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: May 14, 2019

ISBN: 978-0-8234-4253-9

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Margaret Ferguson/Holiday House

Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019

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