Bursting with quiet wit and gorgeous Martian vistas. Simply masterful.
Is there life on Mars?
“Everybody thinks I’m crazy. Nobody believes there is life on Mars. But I do.” Equipped with a box of chocolate cupcakes, a young astronaut traverses the dark, cold Martian landscape in pursuit of something, anything that will prove life exists on Mars. Unbeknownst to the young, light-skinned astronaut, a large, pointy-eared Martian follows not too far behind. Alas, the planet isn’t really cooperating: hills and craters punctuate its surface, but there’s not much else. After miles and miles of seemingly nothing, the unlucky space explorer drops the chocolatey gift on the ground. “What a disaster. Everybody was right: There is no life on Mars!” Just don’t tell that to the Martian, who picks up the dropped package. Though Agee’s minimalist story relies on a single running gag to deliver much of the fun, it stays hilarious throughout thanks in large part to the sincere, impassioned first-person narration. The author/illustrator excels in illustrating a Martian scenery perfect for the young astronaut’s mission. Black features prominently in most pictures, stressing the cold of space against the soft browns and harsh grays of Mars' mostly barren land. Bold lines give everything a clean, solid shape. A bit lost on the way back to the spaceship, the cosmic explorer stumbles across definitive proof of life: a flower. Mission success!
Bursting with quiet wit and gorgeous Martian vistas. Simply masterful. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-53852-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre.
Ice princess Lina must navigate family and school in this early chapter read.
The family picnic is today. This is not a typical gathering, since Lina’s maternal relatives are a royal family of Windtamers who have power over the weather and live in castles floating on clouds. Lina herself is mixed race, with black hair and a tan complexion like her Asian-presenting mother’s; her Groundling father appears to be a white human. While making a grand entrance at the castle of her grandfather, the North Wind, she fails to successfully ride a gust of wind and crashes in front of her entire family. This prompts her stern grandfather to ask that Lina move in with him so he can teach her to control her powers. Desperate to avoid this, Lina and her friend Claudia, who is black, get Lina accepted at the Hilltop Science and Arts Academy. Lina’s parents allow her to go as long as she does lessons with grandpa on Saturdays. However, fitting in at a Groundling school is rough, especially when your powers start freak winter storms! With the story unfurling in diary format, bright-pink–highlighted grayscale illustrations help move the plot along. There are slight gaps in the storytelling and the pacing is occasionally uneven, but Lina is full of spunk and promotes self-acceptance.
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: June 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-35393-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
A sweet, if oft-told, story.
A plush toy rabbit bonds with a boy and watches him grow into adulthood.
The boy receives the blue bunny for his birthday and immediately becomes attached to it. Unbeknownst to him, the ungendered bunny is sentient; it engages in dialogue with fellow toys, giving readers insight into its thoughts. The bunny's goal is to have grand adventures when the boy grows up and no longer needs its company. The boy spends many years playing imaginatively with the bunny, holding it close during both joyous and sorrowful times and taking it along on family trips. As a young man, he marries, starts a family, and hands over the beloved toy to his toddler-aged child in a crib. The bunny's epiphany—that he does not need to wait for great adventures since all his dreams have already come true in the boy's company—is explicitly stated in the lengthy text, which is in many ways similar to The Velveteen Rabbit (1922). The illustrations, which look hand-painted but were digitally created, are moderately sentimental with an impressionistic dreaminess (one illustration even includes a bunny-shaped cloud in the sky) and a warm glow throughout. The depiction of a teenage male openly displaying his emotions—hugging his beloved childhood toy for example—is refreshing. All human characters present as White expect for one of the boy’s friends who is Black.
A sweet, if oft-told, story. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72825-448-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2022
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