A wholly absorbing story of intriguing magic, harrowing adventure, and delightful fauna.
In Buechner, Mueller, and Ward’s middle-grade fantasy, anthropomorphic animals battle tyranny in a world with no humans.
Black-capped chickadee Twig, like others in his village, is taken by surprise when the Fortress Crows attack. During their rampage, they seem to specifically target Twig, who narrowly evades their clutches. Unexpectedly, it’s another crow (who goes by “Scarecrow” and is not currently associated with the marauders) who provides refuge. He hides away with Twig in a scarecrow’s head that’s magically bigger on the inside than it appears on the outside. It’s there that Twig learns some of the history of this world, which was once overrun by cruel bipeds. The figure allegedly behind the bipeds’ ultimate extinction is Koshmara, a sorceress crow with various animals at her rancorous command. Elsewhere, a trio of traveling performers make their way to Sky Village. Bozwell the Bard, a groundhog, along with twin-sister acrobats Eca and Ayu, who are sugar gliders, witness a vicious strike against the woodland creatures of Sky Village by the Fortress Crows. While Bozwell prefers feasting over fighting, he still offers to help rescue Sky Village’s abducted queen. He joins Evelyn, captain of the Sky Guard, and the twins, who are usually armed to their tiny teeth (and revel in combat), to travel across the Woodland Realm to Koshmara’s Fortress. Along the way, they encounter all sorts, including a warmhearted family and an outright creepy individual. They might even get a helping talon from Twig, as Scarecrow teaches him the martial art of Clawgra. But will they all be enough against Koshmara and her massive, seemingly unstoppable army?
There’s a lot of information to absorb in Buechner, Mueller, and Ward’s enthralling tale—Twig eases readers into it, as he doesn’t know much more than they do. He picks up details about the bipeds as well as the enigmatic crystal shard in the scarecrow, which grants certain powers and enhances others. Twig is even shocked to learn that he apparently has magical abilities of his own—he’s able to communicate telepathically and see played-out events from the past. The characters are sensational, from the irresistible Eca and Ayu to the callous Fortress Crows’ General Traeton. Koshmara is just as ruthless as the vanished bipeds, but a glimpse into her past gives her a touch of sympathy, too. There’s impressive nuance to the storytelling, most noticeably the intermittent signs of the bipeds’ tenure in the world. Full-bodied descriptions enhance the narrative, particularly the environment: Scarecrow flies over “gently rolling hills” and the rocky terrain of the Saber Claw Mountains, and Koshmara’s “ghastly” throne is “composed of the bent metal bars of cages, chains, collars, wire snares, and the jagged jaws of metal traps.” Similarly, Rachman’s crisp black-and-white artwork depicts unforgettable imagery throughout, from the Fortress Crows’ assault midthunderstorm to Bozwell and company in various stages of peril and ever-diabolical Koshmara on her throne. This series-starting installment ends on a worthy cliffhanger.
A wholly absorbing story of intriguing magic, harrowing adventure, and delightful fauna.Pub Date: May 20, 2025
ISBN: 9781956694178
Page Count: 296
Publisher: Th3rd World Studios
Review Posted Online: May 6, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 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
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