It has color, magic, and ponies—but little else.
A graphic-novel series to accompany the Melowy chapter books.
A concise pagelong summary opens the story, explaining the distant world Aura, which consists of four island realms and the Castle of Destiny in the clouds, which houses the school for Melowies, winged unicorns with magical powers. Five first-year friends and roommates—Cleo, Maya, Electra, Cora, and Selena—are preparing for a big exam in defense techniques. Each Melowy has a distinctive quirk: Cleo’s a bookworm, Maya bakes, Electra likes fashion, Cora’s brainy, and Selena’s aloof. Cleo also has a mysterious backstory and an equally mysterious locket. The five, along with side characters, all share similar silhouettes (slender, leggy, long-haired, short-snouted, and with the same shape and size wings and horns for all); aside from variations in hair styles and skirt lengths, readers must rely primarily on color schemes to keep track of the large, otherwise bland cast. When the test ends up separating the Melowies, luring them in with desires and then trapping them with fears, Cleo’s locket and the strength of her friendships carry the day, allowing her to pass while aiding her friends in the test. The ending confirms the obvious—that Cleo’s special—and reveals a villain scheming in the wings for subsequent episodes.
It has color, magic, and ponies—but little else. (Graphic fantasy. 6-8)Pub Date: May 8, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-54580-002-7
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Papercutz
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
A hamster with an irritating lack of social skills fails to alienate a cast of small woodland creatures in this strange import. Looking more like an undersized koala in Martin’s simply drawn scenes, Hamster opens with a wish that “in the heavens and on earth [a]ll will praise an extraordinary hamster,” then goes on to explain in his diary how much everyone adores him, to disinvite Rabbit to his birthday party, to blow off a shy confession from Mole and so on—until at the culminating party he takes a bow after belittling everyone’s gifts. Meanwhile, the animals gather to mull such Big Questions as whether worms can shed tears of joy. Within each of her large sequential panels, the illustrator surrounds small figures with generous quantities of flat, uniformly colored green ground and blue sky, punctuated by the occasional tree or shrub. All that wide-open space focuses attention on the dialogue, which sometimes offers insights into the character of each member of the cast but too often falls flat: “Squirrel…a nut. Just one? Hmmm, not so great, so let’s just forget about it.” Yes, let’s. (Graphic picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: July 20, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59270-093-6
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The dream phantasms of a high-spirited narrator intersect, even crowd, reality, but the stream-of-consciousness text makes for a rambling, radically personal tale. Playful images of a stuffed lion, trampoline, purple shoes, and a cat named Pine-Cone take hold in a young girl’s imagination, despite her “old” mother who makes her go to bed when she’d rather “stay up early” and a big sister with a cranky disposition. At home, she likes counting flea bites and pretending to be a worm, but is afraid of the dark and going to Grade One. The second half of the book takes off in a separate first-day-of school direction. Wild dreams precede the big day, which includes bullies on the playground and instant friend Chelsea. The childlike articulations of the text are endearing, but not quite of universal interest, and don’t add up to a compelling story; children may more readily warm to Gay’s illustrations, which include a dreamlike flying cat, a menacing hot dog, and an uproarious stuffed toy looming over everyday domestic scenes. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: Feb. 15, 1999
ISBN: 1-55143-107-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
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