Untidy but uncomplicated, with eco-themes and occasional sly notes.
A tree becomes a portal to a magical land for 9-year-old Lana and her stodgy big brother, Harrison, in this second series entry.
Miller weaves a multistranded plotline containing multiple resemblances between characters and events in this world and the one the children discover when they climb inside the trunk of the Hollow Tree behind their grandparents’ house. On one side, a developer is threatening to demolish the beloved old tree and obliterate the population of rare spiders that dwell around it; on the other, the shape-shifting Spider Queen is out to destroy a human village that’s unwittingly menacing her own eight-legged subjects. Lana turns out to play a pivotal role in resolving both threats—though not before lots of adventures ensue, including spending a night in a beast-haunted meeting hall (she’s been listening to Nana read Beowulf), solving a riddle, and rescuing her brother from the queen’s sticky clutches. If the disparate elements don’t quite mesh into a coherent whole, the simply written narrative still offers plenty of action, a villain who’s not a nice person but not really evil, a talking bear, a unicorn, and a quiffed spider who’s aptly named Elvis. The intrepid, young, white-presenting hero appears at the head of a cast containing at least two characters who present Black. A few spider facts are appended. Naylor’s illustrations have a charming and comfortingly old-fashioned feel.
Untidy but uncomplicated, with eco-themes and occasional sly notes. (Fantasy. 7-11)Pub Date: April 22, 2025
ISBN: 9781665951128
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
We challenge anyone to read this and keep a straight face.
Four misunderstood villains endeavor to turn over a new leaf…or a new rap sheet in Blabey's frenzied romp.
As readers open the first page of this early chapter book, Mr. Wolf is right there to greet them, bemoaning his reputation. "Just because I've got BIG POINTY TEETH and RAZOR-SHARP CLAWS and I occasionally like to dress up like an OLD LADY, that doesn't mean… / … I'm a BAD GUY." To prove this very fact, Mr. Wolf enlists three equally slandered friends into the Good Guys Club: Mr. Snake (aka the Chicken Swallower), Mr. Piranha (aka the Butt Biter), and Mr. Shark (aka Jaws). After some convincing from Mr. Wolf, the foursome sets off determined to un-smirch their names (and reluctantly curbing their appetites). Although these predators find that not everyone is ready to be at the receiving end of their helpful efforts, they use all their Bad Guy know-how to manage a few hilarious good deeds. Blabey has hit the proverbial nail on the head, kissed it full on the mouth, and handed it a stick of Acme dynamite. With illustrations that startle in their manic comedy and deadpan direct address and with a narrative that follows four endearingly sardonic characters trying to push past (sometimes successfully) their fear-causing natures, this book instantly joins the classic ranks of Captain Underpants and The Stinky Cheese Man.
We challenge anyone to read this and keep a straight face. (Fiction. 7-11)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-91240-2
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dizzyingly silly.
The famous superhero returns to fight another villain with all the trademark wit and humor the series is known for.
Despite the title, Captain Underpants is bizarrely absent from most of this adventure. His school-age companions, George and Harold, maintain most of the spotlight. The creative chums fool around with time travel and several wacky inventions before coming upon the evil Turbo Toilet 2000, making its return for vengeance after sitting out a few of the previous books. When the good Captain shows up to save the day, he brings with him dynamic action and wordplay that meet the series’ standards. The Captain Underpants saga maintains its charm even into this, the 11th volume. The epic is filled to the brim with sight gags, toilet humor, flip-o-ramas and anarchic glee. Holding all this nonsense together is the author’s good-natured sense of harmless fun. The humor is never gross or over-the-top, just loud and innocuous. Adults may roll their eyes here and there, but youngsters will eat this up just as quickly as they devoured every other Underpants episode.
Dizzyingly silly. (Humor. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-50490-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
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