Kids will appreciate the absorbing plot and the feeling of knowing more than the protagonist.
Ambitious, conscientious, adventurous, and willing to learn, Trim is an admirable hero.
The first title in this series, Trim Sets Sail (2023), explained how the scrawny kitten became part of Captain Flinders’ crew. (The actual Trim made history as the first feline to circumnavigate Australia, 1801-1803.) On board Trim’s ship are the captain and the sailors; the ship’s cook, gardener, artist, and naturalist; the ship’s dog, Penny; and the parrot, Jack. Trim wants to be a useful crew member, too, so Jack sends him off to look for rats in the ship’s hold, but the kitten doesn’t know what a rat looks like. When he encounters a regal-looking rodent who announces herself as Princess Bea, he’s discouraged to learn that patrolling is already her job, but he’s happy to help out by bringing her a biscuit. Just as Jack is about to set Trim straight, we spot the scorpion who’d earlier escaped from the naturalist and appears ready to attack Penny. Trim, encouraged by Bea and mistaking the arachnid for a rat, fearlessly charges. While rats may not be so welcome aboard a real ship, Penny, Jack, and Trim make peace with Bea and find a place for her on the ship. Color-and-line illustrations are as lively and engaging as the narrative, which boasts enjoyable action and suspense.
Kids will appreciate the absorbing plot and the feeling of knowing more than the protagonist. (historical afterword) (Historical chapter book. 7-9)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9781682632918
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look...
Winning actually isn’t everything, as jazz-happy Rooster learns when he goes up against the legendary likes of Mules Davis and Ella Finchgerald at the barnyard talent show.
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look good—particularly after his “ ‘Hen from Ipanema’ [makes] / the barnyard chickies swoon.”—but in the end the competition is just too stiff. No matter: A compliment from cool Mules and the conviction that he still has the world’s best band soon puts the strut back in his stride. Alexander’s versifying isn’t always in tune (“So, he went to see his cousin, / a pianist of great fame…”), and despite his moniker Rooster plays an electric bass in Bower’s canted country scenes. Children are unlikely to get most of the jokes liberally sprinkled through the text, of course, so the adults sharing it with them should be ready to consult the backmatter, which consists of closing notes on jazz’s instruments, history and best-known musicians.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58536-688-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
A nifty high-seas caper for chapter-book readers with a love of adventure and a yearning for treasure.
It’s not truffles but doubloons that tickle this porcine wayfarer’s fancy.
Funke and Meyer make another foray into chapter-book fare after Emma and the Blue Genie (2014). Here, mariner Stout Sam and deckhand Pip eke out a comfortable existence on Butterfly Island ferrying cargo to and fro. Life is good, but it takes an unexpected turn when a barrel washes ashore containing a pig with a skull-and-crossbones pendant around her neck. It soon becomes clear that this little piggy, dubbed Julie, has the ability to sniff out treasure—lots of it—in the sea. The duo is pleased with her skills, but pride goeth before the hog. Stout Sam hands out some baubles to the local children, and his largess attracts the unwanted attention of Barracuda Bill and his nasty minions. Now they’ve pignapped Julie, and it’s up to the intrepid sailors to save the porker and their own bacon. The succinct word count meets the needs of kids looking for early adventure fare. The tale is slight, bouncy, and amusing, though Julie is never the piratical buccaneer the book’s cover seems to suggest. Meanwhile, Meyer’s cheery watercolors are as comfortable diagramming the different parts of a pirate vessel as they are rendering the dread pirate captain himself.
A nifty high-seas caper for chapter-book readers with a love of adventure and a yearning for treasure. (Adventure. 7-9)Pub Date: June 23, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-37544-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2015
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