The minimal text and particular plot twists will garner appreciation from struggling readers; endearing characters and a...
This Swedish import features a child in need of a friend.
Much of the narration is wordless, depicted in detailed black-and-white panels. Readers watch as Adrian is bullied at school and, later, is unable to respond when the teacher utters the titular phrase during reading. Adrian and time freeze, and the child imagines flying on a trapeze. Viewers will begin to understand that in contrast to the penciled scenes, these colorful gouache-and-ink spreads signal either a new chapter or joy. Entitled “Before I Met Heidi,” this first chapter ends with Adrian at home with loving but distracted parents. Enter Heidi, with the size and shagginess of an Irish wolfhound. The two bond outside the ice cream store, and Heidi follows Adrian home. Adrian reads well when touching her. Those with a low threshold for blurred reality/fantasy boundaries or deus ex machina solutions may be frustrated; others, including, perhaps, those who’ve benefited from “Reading with Rover”–type programs, will be all in. In the third section, child and dog encounter Heidi’s rightful owner, a woman with a cane. At her dwelling, she explains that she is nearly blind; seeing her performing on the trapeze in a scrapbook photograph, Adrian says “I can read to you.” Repeated perusals yield further clues to the child’s love of the circus and yearning for a pet. Some characters of color can be spotted in the background, but the primary characters are all white.
The minimal text and particular plot twists will garner appreciation from struggling readers; endearing characters and a fresh design will attract many more. (Graphic fiction. 6-8)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-77306-149-8
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
Ghostly fun for the gentlest of readers.
Newly arrived with his parents in seemingly quiet Kersville, an anxious young Latine boy discovers that his new house isn’t quite as normal and boring as he’d hoped.
This graphic reboot of the opener to a proliferating series of early chapter books dispenses with most of the explication but sticks closely to the original’s plotline and dialogue. Hardly has Andres Miedoso—who shares a name with the tale’s author—had time to unpack before a flurry of weird noises and events sends him hurrying over to consult with his grinning, brown-skinned new neighbor, who earlier handed him a business card provocatively labeled “Desmond Cole, Ghost Patrol.” Yes, there’s a ghost in Andres’ house—a jagged, seething cloud of ectoplasm that makes a terrifying first impression…but then gleefully chows down on some unfortunate lasagna and, after paying the gastric price, admits to being a sad, lonely specter searching for a permanent home. By the end, all three have bonded, Andres has a card of his own, and the stage is set for further supernatural exploits. The illustrations are closely based on those in the book’s antecedent, with the addition of bright colors that nicely show off Desmond’s big personality—and the massive green sliming Andres gets when the ghost upchucks all over him. The chills are, if anything, even lighter than the original’s, and the fresh format may draw some new fans.
Ghostly fun for the gentlest of readers. (Graphic ghost fantasy. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2026
ISBN: 9798347100811
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
The dream phantasms of a high-spirited narrator intersect, even crowd, reality, but the stream-of-consciousness text makes for a rambling, radically personal tale. Playful images of a stuffed lion, trampoline, purple shoes, and a cat named Pine-Cone take hold in a young girl’s imagination, despite her “old” mother who makes her go to bed when she’d rather “stay up early” and a big sister with a cranky disposition. At home, she likes counting flea bites and pretending to be a worm, but is afraid of the dark and going to Grade One. The second half of the book takes off in a separate first-day-of school direction. Wild dreams precede the big day, which includes bullies on the playground and instant friend Chelsea. The childlike articulations of the text are endearing, but not quite of universal interest, and don’t add up to a compelling story; children may more readily warm to Gay’s illustrations, which include a dreamlike flying cat, a menacing hot dog, and an uproarious stuffed toy looming over everyday domestic scenes. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: Feb. 15, 1999
ISBN: 1-55143-107-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
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