by Will Hillenbrand ; illustrated by Will Hillenbrand ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 13, 2021
A wild ride with oddly assimilated educational substance.
It’s the day of the state test, and the students need help from Mighty Reader to fight their fears, calm their nerves, and remember their skills.
Lulu, a young anthropomorphic dog, wakes up in bed, upset because she’s overslept on the day of the state test. She stumbles out the door to find the world transformed. Scary beings embodying her fears surround her: an oversized pencil, a fire-breathing book, a sinister eye that glares from a triangle atop a stack of different books. Lulu cowers by a fire hydrant, hoping to be rescued before the fears can take her brain away. Mighty Reader, a dog superhero, shows up just in time, with a special T-shirt and reading technique. The fears are tamed, and the day is saved. Now, in an abrupt turn of events, Lulu wakes up from this nightmare ready to face the real test. At school, the teacher has calming stations prepared, but the students need Mighty Reader to get ready for the test. With a combination of panels and full-page illustrations, and more speech bubbles than narrative text, this book reads like a comic and feels like one too, with its fast dramatic action. The didactic lesson about reading techniques (take turns reading, “talk the pictures,” etc.) is given a full spread before the students are shown quietly taking the test with smiles on their faces—a mixed message that gives the ending an odd feeling. Despite the chaotic structure and awkward ending, this book will likely help some students acknowledge anxiety about tests, a first step to conquering it.
A wild ride with oddly assimilated educational substance. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: July 13, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4499-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
Share your opinion of this book
More by Jane Hillenbrand
BOOK REVIEW
by Jane Hillenbrand & Will Hillenbrand ; illustrated by Will Hillenbrand
BOOK REVIEW
by Will Hillenbrand ; illustrated by Will Hillenbrand
BOOK REVIEW
by Will Hillenbrand ; illustrated by Will Hillenbrand
by Dev Petty ; illustrated by Lauren Eldridge ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 20, 2017
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
Share your opinion of this book
More by Dev Petty
BOOK REVIEW
by Dev Petty ; illustrated by Mike Boldt
BOOK REVIEW
by Dev Petty ; illustrated by Mike Boldt
BOOK REVIEW
by Dev Petty ; illustrated by Ana Aranda
by Christina Soontornvat ; illustrated by Barbara Szepesi Szucs ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 25, 2019
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre.
Ice princess Lina must navigate family and school in this early chapter read.
The family picnic is today. This is not a typical gathering, since Lina’s maternal relatives are a royal family of Windtamers who have power over the weather and live in castles floating on clouds. Lina herself is mixed race, with black hair and a tan complexion like her Asian-presenting mother’s; her Groundling father appears to be a white human. While making a grand entrance at the castle of her grandfather, the North Wind, she fails to successfully ride a gust of wind and crashes in front of her entire family. This prompts her stern grandfather to ask that Lina move in with him so he can teach her to control her powers. Desperate to avoid this, Lina and her friend Claudia, who is black, get Lina accepted at the Hilltop Science and Arts Academy. Lina’s parents allow her to go as long as she does lessons with grandpa on Saturdays. However, fitting in at a Groundling school is rough, especially when your powers start freak winter storms! With the story unfurling in diary format, bright-pink–highlighted grayscale illustrations help move the plot along. There are slight gaps in the storytelling and the pacing is occasionally uneven, but Lina is full of spunk and promotes self-acceptance.
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: June 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-35393-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
Share your opinion of this book
More by Sarah Mlynowski
BOOK REVIEW
by Sarah Mlynowski & Christina Soontornvat ; illustrated by Maxine Vee
BOOK REVIEW
by Christina Soontornvat ; illustrated by Kevin Hong
BOOK REVIEW
by Christina Soontornvat ; illustrated by Kevin Hong
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.