A clear message that there’s more to life than making a living.
Wolf falls afoul of a pair of overzealous vigilantes, who arrest him on the theory that because he’s not working, he must be a criminal.
The latest entry in a hybrid picture book/graphic novel series given to sharp social commentary takes particular aim at the notion that anyone who doesn’t work must be either lazy or a thief. Because he refuses to explain where he got the coins to pay for his daily noodles, Wolf is hustled off to jail by two badgers in military dress—but when they try to uncover evidence of his supposed crimes, all they learn is that he does lots of good deeds, like helping out at the clinic and chaperoning schoolchildren without asking for reward (“Money? Please, we don’t have any money. We’re teachers!” “Oh. Right”). Meanwhile, a self-righteous local tycoon’s claim that “work builds character!” gets a skewering as someone points out that they inherited their factory, and after responding to a guard’s notion that everyone has to work to earn a living with “I don’t need to EARN a life. I’ve already got one!” Wolf borrows a shovel to dig his way out. He’s immediately surrounded by a crowd of admirers. The money, it turns out, is simply a redistribution of wealth as grateful mice return a favor by stealing money from the tycoon and tucking it into the gaily striped underwear Wolf sports in the cartoon illustrations while he’s sleeping. As the badgers slink off to “waste time…I mean…patrol…,” a varied cast of woodland creatures offers background chatter and additional commentary. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A clear message that there’s more to life than making a living. (Graphic/picture-book hybrid. 5-9)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72846-296-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Graphic Universe
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books.
Curious about the Big Wide World outside his Sasquatch community, Hugo makes a friend who is of it.
Sasquatch Hugo’s bedroom is inside a cave and possesses the charming feature of a small stream running through it that he can sail his little toy boat on. It’s cool, but he yearns to see the Big Wide World. When he asks his smart friend Gigi if a Sasquatch might become a sailor, she says it’s possible but would be difficult—the primary rule of their people is to not be seen by Humans. Then, in everyone’s favorite Hide and Go Sneak class, which is held outside, a Human appears; Hugo laughs at the sight, drawing Human attention in a taboo-breaking mistake. Shortly after, Hugo’s toy boat floats into the cave with a Human toy—soon, it’s facilitating a pen-pal–type relationship that’s derailed when Hugo confesses to being a Sasquatch and Human Boone, a budding cryptozoologist, doesn’t believe him. How Hugo and Boone resolve this misapprehension and become friends in a joint search for the Ogopogo concludes this series opener. Potter keeps the third-person narrative tightly focused on Hugo’s perspective, and the details she uses to flesh out the Sasquatch world are delightfully playful. Sala’s drawings depict a homey Sasquatch cavern community, Boone as a freckled, white boy, and Hugo as a hairily benevolent behemoth.
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books. (final art unseen) (Fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2859-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
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