Kennedy's companion to The Owlstone Crown (1983) is set once again in Other Earth, the Land of the Moonflower. Giant killer bees want sole rights to the moonflower nectar. When Grandfather Tibb refuses their request, they kidnap his grandson, Mustard, and carry him off to their lair on April Fool Isle. Grandfather Tibb puts Lew Ladybug, private eye, on the case and packs Mustard's twin brother and sister, Tim and Verity, off to boarding school where he thinks they'll be safer. A brown bear named Fardels goes along as bodyguard. But it doesn't take the twins long to figure out that the whole school is run by killer bees, and a huge swarm plans to invade on parents' day, imprisoning all the humans. They need to clear out and rescue Mustard pronto. Traveling in a little blue blimp, the twins and Fardels reach April Fool Isle safely, but the plot thickens when a huge invisible eagle kidnaps Verity, insisting she baby-sit for its eaglets. Now Tim has two rescues to perform. Readers who only know Kennedy by his inventive verse will be delighted to find this novel, with its unusual characters, humorous dialogue—especially from the tough-talking ladybug—calamitous plot twists, and mounting tension. Like its predecessor, it's an original and fast-paced fantasy. (Fiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-689-81157-8
Page Count: 173
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1997
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
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The best birthday present is a magical train full of talking animals—and a new job.
On Kate’s 11th birthday, she’s surprised by the arrival of rich Uncle Herbert. Uncle Herbert bears a gift: a train. Not a toy train, a 102.36-ton steam engine, with cars that come later. When Kate and her brother, Tom, both white, play in the cab of the Silver Arrow, the train starts up, zooming to a platform packed with animals holding tickets. Thus begins Kate and Tom’s hard work: They learn to conduct the train and feed the fire box, instructed by the Silver Arrow, which speaks via printed paper tape. The Silver Arrow is a glorious playground: The library car is chockablock with books while the candy car is brimful of gobstoppers and gummy bears. But amid the excitement of whistle-blowing and train conducting, Kate and Tom learn quiet messages from their animal friends. Some species, like gray squirrels and starlings, are “invaders.” The too-thin polar bear’s train platform has melted, leaving it almost drowned. Their new calling is more than just feeding the coal box—they need to find a new balance in a damaged world. “Feeling guilty doesn’t help anything,” the mamba tells them. Humans have survived so effectively they’ve taken over the world; now, he says, “you just have to take care of it.” (Illustrations not seen.)
Both cozy and inspiring, this eco-fable conveys both grim truths and a defiant call to action. (Fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-316-53953-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
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At a time when death has become an acceptable, even voguish subject in children's fiction, Natalie Babbitt comes through with a stylistic gem about living forever.
Protected Winnie, the ten-year-old heroine, is not immortal, but when she comes upon young Jesse Tuck drinking from a secret spring in her parents' woods, she finds herself involved with a family who, having innocently drunk the same water some 87 years earlier, haven't aged a moment since. Though the mood is delicate, there is no lack of action, with the Tucks (previously suspected of witchcraft) now pursued for kidnapping Winnie; Mae Tuck, the middle aged mother, striking and killing a stranger who is onto their secret and would sell the water; and Winnie taking Mae's place in prison so that the Tucks can get away before she is hanged from the neck until....? Though Babbitt makes the family a sad one, most of their reasons for discontent are circumstantial and there isn't a great deal of wisdom to be gleaned from their fate or Winnie's decision not to share it.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1975
ISBN: 0312369816
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1975
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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