A promising new fantasy classic in the making.
Embark on a magical adventure in a hidden forest in this tale translated from Chinese.
Reluctant to return home to the city after an idyllic summer with her grandparents, 10-year-old Little Yu follows a trail of peach blossoms in the river. She ignores an ancient tablet carved with barely legible words and a stern warning (“ENTRANCE HERE IS FORBIDDEN!”) and travels into an ancient forest where everyday norms fall away. Little Yu shows spunk and spirit as she takes part in a quest made up of seven trials, put into place to guard the mysterious and legendary Peach Blossom Paradise and its Hidden Master. With compassion and determination, she faces an Ancient Beast, an overpowering mist, strange illusions, and more. The narrative nods to Lewis Carroll and Hayao Miyazaki yet remains rooted in Chinese mythology. Each folkloric trial quietly tests Little Yu’s courage and empathy. The pacing is quick and the story meaty, building a layered otherworld that rewards attentive readers. The real enchantment lies in Xiong’s illustrations: moody, meticulous spreads of cave dwellings, soaring trees, and a graceful hound. Images of trees, rivers, and rocks provide visual familiarity, making the magic seem possible. Traditional ink-wash technique is given a contemporary tilt that feels both ancient and immediate. Haunting and immersive, this first installment reveals a hidden paradise that readers, both children and adults, won’t be eager to leave.
A promising new fantasy classic in the making. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: May 12, 2026
ISBN: 9781962770491
Page Count: 186
Publisher: Elsewhere Editions
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
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