While some readers may eagerly connect these sights and sensibilities with the Night at the Museum film franchise, this...
A boy and his dog encounter dinosaurs and Duchamp on a class trip to the museum.
The dynamic European duo of Cali and Chaud (The Truth About my Unbelievable Summer..., 2016, etc.) once again combine for a cartoony odyssey. This time readers are introduced to a sprawling museum through a venturesome child’s singular perspective. The recurring, resilient, wild-haired, white protagonist, Henry, accompanied (as usual) by his long-nosed, lop-eared, doe-eyed dachshund, arrives late for a class trip to a major museum. No worries! They decide to explore on their own while they attempt to catch up with their class. There is a lot to see in these cramped and busy, busy spreads: T. Rex, lots of bones, a great whale, displays on evolution, a wooly mammoth, lively dioramas of Neanderthals and evolution, suits of armor, and even some fine art. Will kids recognize all the art references to the likes of Hopper, Duchamp, Calder, Fragonard, Escher, and more? Probably not. But they may relate to the sense of unabashed freedom and knowledge the museum presents and giggle at Henry’s eagerness to “finish” some abstract paintings, neaten up sprawling museum storage rooms, or smile at his dog’s uncanny resemblance to the iconic Mona Lisa.
While some readers may eagerly connect these sights and sensibilities with the Night at the Museum film franchise, this attempt at a rollicking shaggy dog tale will probably occupy urbane, art-loving adults longer than it will their kids. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: March 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4521-5593-7
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 31, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts.
Can knightly deeds bring together a feathered odd couple who are on opposite daily schedules?
Having won over a dragon (and millions of fans) in the Caldecott Honor–winning Knight Owl (2022), the fierce yet impossibly cute nocturnal, armor-clad owlet faces a new challenge—sleep deprivation—in the wake of taking on Early Bird, a trainee who rises with the sun and chatters interminably: “I made pancakes! Do you like pancakes? I love pancakes! Where’s the syrup?” It’s enough to test the patience of even the knightliest of owls, and eventually Knight Owl explodes in anger. But although Early Bird is even smaller than her mentor, she turns out to be just as determined to achieve knighthood. After he tells her to leave, she acquits herself so nobly in a climactic encounter with a pack of wolves that she earns a place at the castle. Denise proves a dab hand at depicting genuinely slinky, scary wolves as well as slipping cheerfully anachronistic newspapers and other sight gags into his realistically wrought medieval settings to underscore the tale’s tongue-in-cheek tone. Better yet, a final view of the doughty duo sitting down together to a lavish pancake breakfast/dinner at dusk ends the episode in a sweet rush of syrup and bonhomie.
An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9780316564526
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
As Captain Awesome would say, this kid is “MI-TEE!” (Fiction. 5-8)
The town of Sunnyview got a little bit safer when 8-year-old Eugene McGillicudy moved in.
Just like his comic-book mentor, Super Dude, Eugene, aka Captain Awesome, is on a one-man mission is to save the world from supervillains, like the nefarious “Queen Stinkypants from Planet Baby.” Just as Eugene suspected, plenty of new supervillains await him at Sunnyview Elementary. Are Meredith Mooney and the mind-reading Ms. Beasley secretly working together to try and force Eugene to reveal his secret identity? Will Principal Brick Foot succeed in throwing Captain Awesome into the “Dungeon of Detention?” Fortunately, Eugene isn’t forced to go it alone. Charlie Thomas Jones, fellow comic-book lover and Super Dude fan, stands ready and willing to help. When the class hamster goes missing, Captain Awesome must don his cape and, with the help of his new best friend, ride to the rescue. Kirby’s funny and engaging third-person narration and O’Connor’s hilarious illustrations make the book easily accessible and enormously appealing, particularly to readers who have recently graduated to chapter books. But it is the quirky, mischievous Eugene that really makes this book special. His energy and humor are contagious, and his dogged commitment to his superhero alter ego is enough to make anyone a believer.
As Captain Awesome would say, this kid is “MI-TEE!” (Fiction. 5-8)Pub Date: April 3, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-4090-6
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
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