An odd mixture of animal fantasy, music appreciation, sentimental story and (minor) problem novel, this bland concoction is...
Adult author and former New York Times reporter Salamon places a cat at the center of her beloved city in her first effort for young readers.
First seen as a straggly stray, hungry and discouraged, Pretty Boy is the central figure in a rambling storyline that crams in too many characters and coincidences but not enough child appeal. The cast includes two shopkeepers, three dogs and their walker, a family of four that has recently moved to the city and an elderly cello player. The tone is matter-of-fact (though the animals can speak to one another), and the plot unfolds predictably. Pretty Boy finds a home—eventually—and some of the people connect in meaningful ways. The friendly dogs, Maggie, Roxie and Henry, outshine the feline hero with snappy dialogue and distinct personalities, while Sam, aka the Cello Man, is the most sympathetic and interesting of the humans. Full-color, single-page illustrations and vignettes with a pleasantly naïve look appear throughout, reflecting the action. Unfortunately they run the risk of limiting the audience further, as some readers may find them childish.
An odd mixture of animal fantasy, music appreciation, sentimental story and (minor) problem novel, this bland concoction is clearly intended to charm but just as clearly misses the mark. (Fantasy. 8-11)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-8037-4056-3
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: June 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The journey is even gently funny—Omakayas’s brother spends much of the year with a porcupine on his head. Charming and...
This third entry in the Birchbark House series takes Omakayas and her family west from their home on the Island of the Golden-Breasted Woodpecker, away from land the U.S. government has claimed.
Difficulties abound; the unknown landscape is fraught with danger, and they are nearing hostile Bwaanag territory. Omakayas’s family is not only close, but growing: The travelers adopt two young chimookoman (white) orphans along the way. When treachery leaves them starving and alone in a northern Minnesota winter, it will take all of their abilities and love to survive. The heartwarming account of Omakayas’s year of travel explores her changing family relationships and culminates in her first moon, the onset of puberty. It would be understandable if this darkest-yet entry in Erdrich’s response to the Little House books were touched by bitterness, yet this gladdening story details Omakayas’s coming-of-age with appealing optimism.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-06-029787-9
Page Count: 208
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2008
Ironically, by choosing such a dramatic catalyst, the author weakens the adventure’s impact overall and leaves readers to...
A group of talking farm animals catches wind of the farm owner’s intention to burn the barn (with them in it) for insurance money and hatches a plan to flee.
Bond begins briskly—within the first 10 pages, barn cat Burdock has overheard Dewey Baxter’s nefarious plan, and by Page 17, all of the farm animals have been introduced and Burdock is sharing the terrifying news. Grady, Dewey’s (ever-so-slightly) more principled brother, refuses to go along, but instead of standing his ground, he simply disappears. This leaves the animals to fend for themselves. They do so by relying on their individual strengths and one another. Their talents and personalities match their species, bringing an element of realism to balance the fantasy elements. However, nothing can truly compensate for the bland horror of the premise. Not the growing sense of family among the animals, the serendipitous intervention of an unknown inhabitant of the barn, nor the convenient discovery of an alternate home. Meanwhile, Bond’s black-and-white drawings, justly compared to those of Garth Williams, amplify the sense of dissonance. Charming vignettes and single- and double-page illustrations create a pastoral world into which the threat of large-scale violence comes as a shock.
Ironically, by choosing such a dramatic catalyst, the author weakens the adventure’s impact overall and leaves readers to ponder the awkward coincidences that propel the plot. (Animal fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-544-33217-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2015
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