A quiet, memorable, fantastical tale beautifully complemented by Juan’s illustrations
It has been 10 years since Pablo landed on the shores of the diverse community of Isla, with his lavender parrot, Birdy, in tow, to be adopted by Cuban-American Emmanuel.
Pablo, no longer satisfied with the origin stories the adults tell him, wants the truth: who put him in the water, and why? And after 10 years, flightless Birdy is now attempting to fly. Isla, famed for its birds, is also famous for the legend of the Seafaring Parrot, a mystical bird said to be able to reproduce any sound in the world. Winds of change, meaning “fortune lost or fortune gained,” are coming to Isla. Rumors of Seafarer sightings attract tourists and newscasters to the island in search of the legendary bird. Pablo wonders if Birdy is the Seafarer of legend. McGhee deftly weaves the narrative of Pablo and Birdy with chapters from the point of view of a little, hungry dog who steals baked goods. Further adding to the quirkiness of the tale is the Committee of island birds, all of whom display boatloads of personality despite being limited to parroted speech. Readers will not be surprised at the true nature of Birdy’s identity, and they will cheer to see how the community comes together to protect it from outside forces. Birdy and Pablo’s relationship, the strongest aspect of the story, has a bittersweet but satisfying ending.
A quiet, memorable, fantastical tale beautifully complemented by Juan’s illustrations . (Fabulism. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7026-1
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
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
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
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