The Stanley family we all remember from Snyder's highly successful The Headless Cupid (1971) gets a year in Italy when stepmother Molly's expatriate uncle leaves her money that has to be spent there. Molly's 13-year-old daughter Amanda, just a little better adjusted to the new family arrangement than she was in her poltergeist days, continues to brag about her rich father; and as a result all five children are kidnapped though the culprits had only bargained for Amanda. She is despondent, sure that her father won't bother to rescue her, and the others are fearful that he won't be able to come up with the million-dollar ransom. When they hear that he is in Italy but can't raise the million, David, the oldest Stanley, is really worried, but Amanda, with this evidence of her father's concern, comes to life. Much of the story takes place in the kids' basement prison, where seven-year-old, bilingual Janle (the family genius) interprets for the masked kidnappers, guesses their identity, and—with a view to being so cute their captors can't possibly kill them—gets up a hilarious performance with herself acting out Juliet's death scene and the four-year-old twins following with the Mickey Mouse Club song. For their part David and Amanda stage a miracle, which does have the kidnappers wondering; but in the end it's Janie who saves them all. A lively, likable family adventure, a bit slow to hit its stride and not as ingenious as The Headless Cupid, but still crackling with the Stanley family's distinctive charm and energy.
Pub Date: Oct. 19, 1979
ISBN: 0440424852
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1979
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An unnecessary purchase filled with platitudes.
A yellow snakelike squiggle transforms itself into all kinds of shapes to express different emotional experiences.
In this small, square book, marketed as a gift book and resembling an extended greeting card, the ever changing yellow shape with its black-dot eye takes center stage, popping in the black-and-white drawings. Starting with a dull urban, black-and-gray crowd scene of adult people and anthropomorphized animals, including a giraffe with a tie and perhaps a woman with a sharp nose, the opening text reads: “The world is a big and varied place. There are so many things to be and do.” The page turn reveals the busy feet of those beings, some with shoes, others with paws or hooves. Suddenly, the yellow squiggle appears amid these detached legs, and the words get personal: “Sometimes you can feel a bit lost.” Mundane self-realization advice is offered in the next spreads, perhaps suitable for a graduate or someone starting a new phase of life but not particularly child-oriented. When the squiggle changes itself into earmuffs, the text reads: “Be there for others,” and then on the next spread, as the shape becomes a staircase with two human legs descending, “but don’t let anyone put you down.” Finally, against a black sky filled with smaller stars, the squiggle becomes the large outline of a star, and the commonplace recommendation reads: “Always remember you are a star, and you’ll soon find your place in the world.”
An unnecessary purchase filled with platitudes. (Picture book. 8-adult)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-61067-813-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
A treasure it’s not.
This title about the Fast and Furry Racers sends anthropomorphic dog Cleopatra Bones and other animal characters racing off to find the fabled Golden Chimpanzee.
While busy, cartoon art and labored, rhyming text signal this to be a cute adventure story, readers may balk at various details. For starters, is the canine protagonist’s name an intentional or unintentional play on the name of the 1973 blaxploitation film Cleopatra Jones, starring Tamara Dobson in the title role? Either scenario seems downright odd, at best. So named, Cleopatra finds a treasure map in a temple, and although nowhere does the text name what sort of temple it is, there are symbols that seem to emulate Egyptian hieroglyphics. She shares the map with other animal characters in a scene at a museum, and they all go off in pursuit of the Golden Chimpanzee. Some may wonder about the underlying ethics of this treasure hunt. In an era of discussion and debate about appropriation, exploitation, and repatriation in the museum field, this lighthearted book runs roughshod over such concerns. The animals’ race brings them to a large stone chimpanzee sculpture hidden in a jungle, which they destroy. “And from the broken body parts pours a waterfall of gold.” The animals divide the gold among themselves; that’s the dubious happily-ever-after conclusion.
A treasure it’s not. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-61067-802-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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