Winner of the British Nestlé Award, this import introduces Paul, a mouse with an embarrassing allergy to cheese. His bottom turns blue, the surrounding fur falls out and his tail curls into a question mark. He lives with two friends—Sandra, a Christmas-tree angel, and the Tinby, a small metal monster with a pleasant disposition—in a cardboard box. Together with their canine neighbor, Rowley Barker Hobbs, they go to a nearby mouse restaurant and are horrified to discover that the humans who dine above them are eating mouse noses on toast as a delicacy. The Tinby is so disturbed by this development that it wreaks havoc upon the restaurant, leading the friends to join with a left-wing mouse to spearhead a thorough investigation and protest of the heinous meal. While the ending does not quite come together—Paul conquers his fear of looking ridiculous in a somewhat sudden manner—overall the story is suspenseful, witty and engaging, and the mild bathroom jokes will provide many a giggle. Imaginative and clever line drawings provide a perfect complement. (Fiction. 6-10)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-399-25037-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81175-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
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