A light, slight fantasy.
Ghost cat Sailor Boy is a faithful companion even after the end.
Miss Maggie McCullen, a red-haired white woman, has been in charge of the Port Carrick lighthouse for 42 years. Siamese cat Sailor Boy used to live with her. When he died, he decided to stay with her. He seems to retain his corporeality but can choose when to be visible. They go about their days pretty much as they did when he was alive, and each night he helps her light the light that keeps the boats around Port Carrick safe from the rocks. People on the mainland think Miss Maggie must be lonely, but they don’t know about Sailor Boy. The occasional paying visitors to the island don’t know about Sailor Boy (even when he invisibly taunts them with ghostly purrs or ankle scratches). When Miss Maggie’s niece Cissie Curry, also white, comes to visit and must stay the night due to a storm, Miss Maggie sprains her ankle on the stairs. Sailor Boy must get Cissie’s attention and help her light the light. Can he do it? This is an odd offering from the prolific Bunting. Barry’s watercolor illustrations in sepia-muted colors are appealing, but the tale they help to tell is slight. His ghostly nature makes Sailor Boy interesting, but it’s his ability to act like a living cat that saves the day (or night), which will likely strike readers as contradictory.
A light, slight fantasy. (author’s note) (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-58536-993-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: April 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2017
Another quirky take on the series theme that it’s cool to be kind.
The cool beans again step up to do a timorous fellow legume a fava…this time at the pool.
Will a rash decision to tackle the multistory super-slide lead to another embarrassing watery fail for our shy protagonist? Nope, for up the stairs right behind comes a trio of cool beans, each a different type and color, all clad in nothing but dark shades. They make an offer: “It’s not as scary if you go with friends!” As the knobby nerd explains once the thrilling ride down is done, “They all realized that I just needed some encouragement and support.” Just to make sure that both cool and uncool readers get the message, the narrator lets us know that “there are plenty of kind folks who have my back. They’re always there when I need them.” The beany bonhomie doesn’t end at the bottom of the slide, with all gliding down to the shallow end of the pool (“3 INCHES. NO DIVING”) for a splashy finale. This latest early reader starring characters from John and Oswald’s immensely popular Food Group series will be a hit with fans. Fun accessories, such as a bean who rocks pink cat-eye frames, add some pizzazz to the chromatically and somatotypically varied cast.
Another quirky take on the series theme that it’s cool to be kind. (Easy reader. 5-7)Pub Date: March 26, 2024
ISBN: 9780063329560
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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