Caleb the carpenter and Kate the weaver loved each other, but not every single minute"—and it's after one of their fiercest quarrels, with Kate screaming "odious insults" and Caleb storming away from the "cantankerous hoddy-doddy," that witch Yedida finds the husband sleeping in the forest and decides to test a new spell. And so begins Caleb's season as a dog, with Kate grieving for her vanished mate despite the comforts of this affectionate new pet, and with woebegone Caleb dogging her heels, emitting "only a suffering growl" when he tries to say her name. A knife stab from a pair of night robbers miraculously undoes the spell, but as for what had actually happened, "like many another thing, it remained a mystery" to the reunited couple. No reincarnation of Sylvester despite the similar transformation, this plain frontier couple is touching in its own frumpy way, and this amusing sad story is beguiling as only Steig can make it.
Pub Date: Oct. 31, 1977
ISBN: 0374410380
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1977
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
Did you like this book?
Edgar Award–winning Riordan leaves the adult world of mystery to begin a fantasy series for younger readers. Twelve-year-old Percy (full name, Perseus) Jackson has attended six schools in six years. Officially diagnosed with ADHD, his lack of self-control gets him in trouble again and again. What if it isn’t his fault? What if all the outrageous incidents that get him kicked out of school are the result of his being a “half-blood,” the product of a relationship between a human and a Greek god? Could it be true that his math teacher Mrs. Dodds transformed into a shriveled hag with bat wings, a Fury, and was trying to kill him? Did he really vanquish her with a pen that turned into a sword? One need not be an expert in Greek mythology to enjoy Percy’s journey to retrieve Zeus’s master bolt from the Underworld, but those who are familiar with the deities and demi-gods will have many an ah-ha moment. Along the way, Percy and his cohort run into Medusa, Cerberus and Pan, among others. The sardonic tone of the narrator’s voice lends a refreshing air of realism to this riotously paced quest tale of heroism that questions the realities of our world, family, friendship and loyalty. (Fantasy. 12-15)
Pub Date: July 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-7868-5629-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2005
Did you like this book?
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Sophie is caught between a powerful witch and wizard who are terrorizing the magical land of Ingary. Living a humdrum life as a hatter till the malicious Witch of the Waste casts a spell turning her into an old woman, Sophie seeks refuge as cleaning woman to Wizard Howl (although he's rumored to eat the hearts of young girls) in his castle, which moves at will about the countryside. Actually, Howl is a brash young man whose only vice is womanizing. He is a gifted wizard but the despair of his inept apprentice and of Calcifer, a humorously petulant fire demon, because of such human faults as messiness and spending too long in the bath. As in her memorable Archer's Goon, Jones has a plethora of characters who are seldom what they seem and an intricate plot which may dazzle with its complexity or delight by the hilarious common-sense consequences of its preposterous premises. Sophie is a dauntless heroine; when she regains her youth and wins Howl, the odds are this is only the beginning of a tempestuous romance. Great fun.
Pub Date: April 14, 1986
ISBN: 0061478784
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1986
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
Did you like this book?
© Copyright 2022 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
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.
