Supremely sophisticated bedtime fare, Rodari’s mildly muddled hoot revels in its own peculiar humor.
In this Italian import, first published in 1978, an elderly nobleman discovers the secret to youth…and endures the troubles that follow.
On a private island, 93-year-old Baron Lamberto abides with 24 maladies and his manservant, Anselmo. Together, the two invite six people to repeat the name “Lamberto” without cease. They are well paid and well fed but baffled by the assignment. They wouldn’t be if they could see how their efforts cause the aged baron to grow younger and younger. His greedy nephew Ottavio catches wind of the operation and schemes to get his inheritance sooner, but his nefarious plans are upended by the arrival of 24 bandits who promptly ransom Lamberto for their own purposes. While the storytelling traipses dangerously close to being more amusing to adults than children, its illogical logic more often than not transcends age. Translator Shugaar perfectly taps into the fiasco’s flavor, deftly displaying Rodari’s propensity for silliness, though his introduction makes it clear that there are political messages embedded throughout, which young readers likely won’t pick up on. Muradov’s illustrations pay homage to Bruno Munari’s abstract artwork, featured in the book’s 1980 edition, while giving the tale a gentle tone entirely of its own. Some parents or caregivers may be a bit perturbed by the images of oversize guns. Characters have skin the white of the page.
Supremely sophisticated bedtime fare, Rodari’s mildly muddled hoot revels in its own peculiar humor. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781592704156
Page Count: 168
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and...
Catrina narrates the story of her mixed-race (Latino/white) family’s move from Southern California to Bahía de la Luna on the Northern California coast.
Dad has a new job, but it’s little sister Maya’s lungs that motivate the move: she has had cystic fibrosis since birth—a degenerative breathing condition. Despite her health, Maya loves adventure, even if her lungs suffer for it and even when Cat must follow to keep her safe. When Carlos, a tall, brown, and handsome teen Ghost Tour guide introduces the sisters to the Bahía ghosts—most of whom were Spanish-speaking Mexicans when alive—they fascinate Maya and she them, but the terrified Cat wants only to get herself and Maya back to safety. When the ghost adventure leads to Maya’s hospitalization, Cat blames both herself and Carlos, which makes seeing him at school difficult. As Cat awakens to the meaning of Halloween and Day of the Dead in this strange new home, she comes to understand the importance of the ghosts both to herself and to Maya. Telgemeier neatly balances enough issues that a lesser artist would split them into separate stories and delivers as much delight textually as visually. The backmatter includes snippets from Telgemeier’s sketchbook and a photo of her in Día makeup.
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and unable to put down this compelling tale. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-54061-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
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