Three hairy trolls find the road to acceptance particularly rocky when they try to settle in a quiet suburb. Humiliated at being defeated by a mere goat, Egbert Troll brings his wife Nora and their son Ulrik all the way from Norway to a house in Biddlesden. However, he then begins to repent when it proves impossible to find decorative cow pies for their distressingly clean new house, juicy young goats to eat or much of a welcome from their horrified neighbors, the Priddles. Ulrik gets off on the wrong paw at school, too, after following the advice of sly classmate Warren Priddle to greet the teacher with a bite. Beech’s occasional ink-and-wash views of dismayed “peeples” facing grody-looking trolls decked out in bones and random tufts of hair underscore the lightly comic tone. Told almost entirely from the Trolls’ point of view, the tale ends happily after Ulrik saves Warren from a charging goat on a class trip to a farm—by singing a sweet song that also earns the young troll a spot in the school’s talent show. Despite Egbert’s bluster, no goats are harmed in the course of this mild farce. (Fantasy. 9-11)
Pub Date: May 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-1-59990-077-3
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
Simple, bella, un regalo permenente: simple and beautiful, a gift that will stay.
Renowned Latin American writer Alvarez has created another story about cultural identity, but this time the primary character is 11-year-old Miguel Guzmán.
When Tía Lola arrives to help the family, Miguel and his hermana, Juanita, have just moved from New York City to Vermont with their recently divorced mother. The last thing Miguel wants, as he's trying to fit into a predominantly white community, is a flamboyant aunt who doesn't speak a word of English. Tía Lola, however, knows a language that defies words; she quickly charms and befriends all the neighbors. She can also cook exotic food, dance (anywhere, anytime), plan fun parties, and tell enchanting stories. Eventually, Tía Lola and the children swap English and Spanish ejercicios, but the true lesson is "mutual understanding." Peppered with Spanish words and phrases, Alvarez makes the reader as much a part of the "language" lessons as the characters. This story seamlessly weaves two culturaswhile letting each remain intact, just as Miguel is learning to do with his own life. Like all good stories, this one incorporates a lesson just subtle enough that readers will forget they're being taught, but in the end will understand themselves, and others, a little better, regardless of la lengua nativa—the mother tongue.
Simple, bella, un regalo permenente: simple and beautiful, a gift that will stay. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-375-80215-0
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The book is a cute, but rather standard offering from Avi (Tom, Babette, and Simon, p. 776, etc.).
An adolescent mouse named Poppy is off on a romantic tryst with her rebel boyfriend when they are attacked by Mr. Ocax, the owl who rules over the area.
He kills the boyfriend, but Poppy escapes and Mr. Ocax vows to catch her. Mr. Ocax has convinced all the mice that he is their protector when, in fact, he preys on them mercilessly. When the mice ask his permission to move to a new house, he refuses, blaming Poppy for his decision. Poppy suspects that there is another reason Mr. Ocax doesn't want them to move and investigates to clear her name. With the help of a prickly old porcupine and her quick wits, Poppy defeats her nemesis and her own fears, saving her family in the bargain.
The book is a cute, but rather standard offering from Avi (Tom, Babette, and Simon, p. 776, etc.). (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-531-09483-9
Page Count: 147
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1995
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