Young Padawans will be over Endor to get a bit of background on the endearing BB-8, but the story’s unlikely to reach beyond...
Everyone’s favorite Force Awakens droid gets his own picture-book prequel, and he does a slew of good deeds.
Daywalt, author of The Day the Crayons Quit, chronicles the trials of BB-8 as he makes his way across the desert planet of Jakku. After an explosion in the town of Tuanul, BB-8’s separated from pilot Poe, who’s given BB-8 a map to find Luke Skywalker. Now it is up to the droid to get the map to the Resistance. BB-8’s scared, but he remembers what Poe told him: “You do good things, and good things will come back to you.” When BB-8 comes upon Teedo, whose luggabeast is stuck, BB-8 tries to help…but it’s a trap. In captivity, BB-8 meets F3-ZK, who goes by “Fez,” and the two hatch a plot to escape. Once free, the two are separated in an attack by steelpeckers. To complete his mission, BB-8 wants to get to Fez’s spaceship before it leaves, but he stops to help a scavenger family and a wounded happabore. Teedo reappears just as Fez and BB-8 are boarding the ship, and BB-8 distracts Teedo so Fez can escape. What about Poe’s words of wisdom? Happily, a young woman appears and saves him…the adventure’s just beginning. Daywalt’s clearly told story, long on event if short on flair, and Myers’ paintings (with digitally added special effects) mesh well enough.
Young Padawans will be over Endor to get a bit of background on the endearing BB-8, but the story’s unlikely to reach beyond that admittedly huge audience . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4847-0508-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Disney Lucasfilm
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
Only for dedicated fans of the series.
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster.
“I spot my monster right away. / He’s practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won’t be scared anymore!” The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green–striped tail. The kid employs a “bag of tricks” to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he “rips a massive FART!!” that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster’s house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton’s bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace’s limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off.
Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A must-own adaptation chock-full of such stuff as kids’ dreams are—and will be—made on.
Mirth, magic, and mischief abound in this picture-book retelling of one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays.
Ariel, the beloved sprite whose conjurings precipitate the eponymous tempest, gets top billing in this adaptation and recounts the narrative in the first person. Through Ariel’s eyes, readers are introduced to the powerful Prospero, his lovely daughter, Miranda, and the shipwrecked nobles who are brought to the island to right an ancient wrong. Ellinas’ picture book largely divests the tale of its colonialist underpinnings and breathes three-dimensional complexity into the major and minor characters. Caliban, for instance, is monstrous due to his callous treatment of Ariel rather than because he is racially coded as savage. Another delightful change is the depiction of Miranda, who emerges as an athletic, spirited, and beautiful nature-child whose charms are understandably irresistible to Prince Ferdinand. The text is perfectly matched by Ray’s jaw-droppingly beautiful illustrations, which will enchant readers from the front cover to the final curtain. The greens of the waters and the blues of the island’s night sky are so lush and inviting that readers will wish they could enter the book. Peppered throughout the story are italicized fragments of Shakespeare’s dialogue, giving both young and older readers something to enjoy. Large, granite-colored Caliban is plainly nonhuman; the human characters present white; Ariel is a translucent, paper white.
A must-own adaptation chock-full of such stuff as kids’ dreams are—and will be—made on. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1144-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
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