An intriguing children’s story about a tiny bird earning his wings.
Laws against flying cannot quell a young bird’s desire to soar in Anderson’s debut children’s book.
None of the birds of Tree City know how to fly, so the only way they can reach their nests is by climbing a vast, spiral staircase. Charlie Sparrow’s father, a second-generation repairman, keeps those stairs in working order. One morning, young Charlie accompanies his father on a job and takes a tumble off a high branch. At that moment, something stirs within him, and he calmly spreads his wings floats to the ground. The experience leaves Charlie exhilarated and eager to try again, but his parents are horrified. They consult Dr. Nightingale, who diagnoses Charlie with “Leaping Syndrome,” described as “an extreme and dangerous urge to leap off things.” Just before Charlie is about to undergo the doctor’s treatment—a plucking procedure—he jumps out the window and again safely floats to the ground. Soon a mysterious bird in a long coat and fedora coaxes him into an old tree (which may raise parents’ eyebrows). He reveals himself to be Dr. Nightingale’s brother, but he holds an opposing view of Leaping Syndrome and encourages birds to follow their illicit muse. He introduces Charlie to a circle of other Leapers who engage in clandestine group therapy. Later, in the Leaping Cavern, Charlie’s unique floating ability puts him in the spotlight. Ultimately, Dr. Nightingale’s brother is put on trial, but the story ends on an uplifting note, with Charlie becoming the society’s designated flying instructor. Although children may applaud the group’s fortitude and Charlie’s perseverance, they may wonder why a society of birds doesn’t know how to fly, or why the birds have their wings regularly clipped. However, the story is nicely descriptive and its pace never falters. Anderson has also created fun, original and quirky characters, and children will likely enjoy their alliterative names, such as Wendy Warbler, Fanny Finch and Ronny Raven. The author’s accompanying pencil sketches are simplistic, but representational and expressive.
An intriguing children’s story about a tiny bird earning his wings.Pub Date: Dec. 11, 2012
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 62
Publisher: Underdog Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own...
The sturdy Little Blue Truck is back for his third adventure, this time delivering Christmas trees to his band of animal pals.
The truck is decked out for the season with a Christmas wreath that suggests a nose between headlights acting as eyeballs. Little Blue loads up with trees at Toad’s Trees, where five trees are marked with numbered tags. These five trees are counted and arithmetically manipulated in various ways throughout the rhyming story as they are dropped off one by one to Little Blue’s friends. The final tree is reserved for the truck’s own use at his garage home, where he is welcomed back by the tree salestoad in a neatly circular fashion. The last tree is already decorated, and Little Blue gets a surprise along with readers, as tiny lights embedded in the illustrations sparkle for a few seconds when the last page is turned. Though it’s a gimmick, it’s a pleasant surprise, and it fits with the retro atmosphere of the snowy country scenes. The short, rhyming text is accented with colored highlights, red for the animal sounds and bright green for the numerical words in the Christmas-tree countdown.
Little Blue’s fans will enjoy the animal sounds and counting opportunities, but it’s the sparkling lights on the truck’s own tree that will put a twinkle in a toddler’s eyes. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-32041-3
Page Count: 24
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
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