If this is the future, count child fans in.
Crepuscular carnivores! Hypnotized egrets! Amputated bottoms! The pajama-clad child pirate Mabel Jones is back for her latest adventure.
Though just a child, Mabel has dealt with magic before (The Unlikely Adventures of Mabel Jones, 2015). She’s nevertheless surprised when vines make off with her baby sister, Maggie. Following their trail, Mabel plunges through time into a future Earth where humans have disappeared and animals reign supreme. To recover her sister, Mabel must pair once again with fellow “hooman snuglet” Jarvis and veteran goat pirate Pelf. The journey to the titular Forbidden City (read: NYC) where Maggie is held means pairing too with the adventurers Speke, a jolly otter with all the acumen of a Bertie Wooster, and Carruthers, a pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps badger. Naturally, the waterways are thick with peril. Naturally, they must face a baddie of towering nastiness. And naturally, it will take a great deal of sacrifice on Mabel’s part to reach a happy ending. As with the first novel, the narrator who haunts this book’s pages isn’t just intrusive. It’s likely to sit on your lap and make snide comments about the nits in your hair. The result is wordplay that dances and teases, making every page an act of high entertainment. With this sequel, the humor is higher and the gross-out jokes less frequent than in the opener, and the adventure is pleasingly heart-pounding.
If this is the future, count child fans in. (Adventure. 8-11)Pub Date: Feb. 9, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-451-47197-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2015
Fledgling readers will enjoy this simply told, visually appealing historical tale, though starting with the first two...
The third in a four-part Viking-era adventure pits four young Greenlanders against both a howling gale and a crew of brutal pirates.
Signs of spring coming to his adopted Arctic send Leiv, his Inuit brother-and-sister companions Apuluk and Narua, and rescued serf Sølvi sledding northward in search of the vanished chieftain Thorstein. Cann's frequent vignettes of people and wildlife add graceful visual notes to Riel's vivid depiction of life in this harsh ("They hammered blubber for the lamps....") but often beautiful setting. The explorers weather a journey highlighted by a violent, two-day storm, followed by an equally violent battle aboard an iced-in British longship after Leiv and Apuluk are captured. The return home is made even more joyous when the closely bonded quartet stages a double elopement to kick off a second trek north in search of a passage to the fabled country to the west.
Fledgling readers will enjoy this simply told, visually appealing historical tale, though starting with the first two episodes will make it easier to follow the developing characters and storyline. (Historical fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-84686-797-2
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: July 24, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although the language is a bit stilted and the message far from subtle, this Danish translation, first in a four-part...
When Leiv, a Viking boy, is shipwrecked near Greenland, two Inuit siblings, Apuluk and Narua, rescue him and eventually bring him to their community.
In 1000 C.E., Norsemen traveled to Greenland, but there were few contacts with the Inuit community. At first, the Inuits want nothing to do with Leiv, but because he demonstrates that he knows some of their language and seems peaceful, they accept him. This is a harsh adventure tale: Leiv loses several toes due to frostbite, and Apuluk is attacked by a polar bear. From its opening scene of a blood feud started by Leiv’s father’s killing and the rigors of Arctic life, the characters act as adults despite their adolescent ages. The Inuit life is idealized, in comparison to the warlike, possession-hungry Norse culture. Narua is portrayed as a fearless young woman, but then she only wants a needle when the three young people find the Norse settlement near the end. Is Riel’s message a little heavy? Heavily illustrated with full-page bold, stylized watercolors, some double-page spreads and occasional vignettes, this transitional chapter book employs a large font and very generous white space.
Although the language is a bit stilted and the message far from subtle, this Danish translation, first in a four-part series, will appeal to those seeking adventure, strong friendship and survival stories at a lower reading level than usual . (Adventure. 9-11)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-84686-335-6
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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