Dishes up a tasty round of youthful derring-do with several meaty topics on the side.
The popular chef invites readers on a food-filled quest to save both our planet and a magic forest.
Waking to a savory bacon sandwich served by his publican mother, 9 ½-year-old Billy throws off the sheets and rises to join his best friends on a venture into mysterious Waterfall Woods. Intrepid Anna grew up in foster care before being adopted; Andy has earned his nickname, the Fart Blaster; and avid naturalist Jimmy, who moved to the village from London, is Black in a human cast that otherwise appears white. While stopping to share yummy smoked salmon and other snacks, the kids meet Basil the Sprite and go on to a quick series of exploits, including exposing an illegal operation that is polluting the local river while turning factory-farmed turkeys into pink slime nuggets. Billy finds a way to approach more common challenges too, such as coping with his reading and attention difficulties at school. Along with plenty of spot art and some snigger-inducing scenes, such as one showing Anna lighting up one of Andy’s humungous blasts, Armiño strews lively, full-page views of the pals grabbing a bite, hanging out in a spacious treehouse, or marveling at a flock of Sprites. Oliver dangles several open threads to spice up interest in future episodes, leaves his Everylad chowing down on a luscious ploughman’s lunch, and tempts further kitchen exploits with a trio of recipes.
Dishes up a tasty round of youthful derring-do with several meaty topics on the side. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 14, 2023
ISBN: 9781774884140
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: July 31, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
A pleasing premise for book lovers.
A fantasy-loving bookworm makes a wonderful, terrible bargain.
When sixth grader Poppy Woodlock’s historic preservationist parents move the family to the Oregon coast to work on the titular stately home, Poppy’s sure she’ll find magic. Indeed, the exiled water nymph in the manor’s ruined swimming pool grants a wish, but: “Magic isn’t free. It cosssts.” The price? Poppy’s favorite book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In return she receives Sampson, a winged lion cub who is everything Poppy could have hoped for. But she soon learns that the nymph didn’t take just her own physical book—she erased Narnia from Poppy’s world. And it’s just the first loss: Soon, Poppy’s grandmother’s journal’s gone, then The Odyssey, and more. The loss is heartbreaking, but Sampson’s a wonderful companion, particularly as Poppy’s finding middle school a tough adjustment. Hartman’s premise is beguiling—plenty of readers will identify with Poppy, both as a fellow bibliophile and as a kid struggling to adapt. Poppy’s repeatedly expressed faith that unveiling Sampson will bring some sort of vindication wears thin, but that does not detract from the central drama. It’s a pity that the named real-world books Poppy reads are notably lacking in diversity; a story about the power of literature so limited in imagination lets both itself and readers down. Main characters are cued White; there is racial diversity in the supporting cast. Chapters open with atmospheric spot art. (This review has been updated to reflect the final illustrations.)
A pleasing premise for book lovers. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780316448222
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
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
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