A great choice for fans of the Magic Treehouse series, who will be looking forward to Ranger’s next adventure.
Time-traveling golden retriever Ranger is back, this time saving the day in ancient Rome.
Marcus Cassius is an 11-year-old who’s been a slave at the Ludus Magnus gladiator school in Rome since his parents died in a fire. Marcus dreams of becoming a gladiator and winning his freedom, but he can’t begin training until he’s 16. When new recruit Quintus becomes his bunkmate, Marcus gives him pointers he’s learned from watching gladiators for the past five years. Words and definitions for elements of gladiator and ancient Roman life are woven into the story naturally (though a glossary is provided for extra support) and help create a vibrant setting. Meanwhile, Ranger is enjoying life with his modern-day family when the magic first-aid box from Rescue on the Oregon Trail (2015) begins humming. Ranger knows this means someone needs his help and slips it on, transporting himself to the amphitheater Marcus is showing Quintus. The rest of the book is a series of well-paced adventures (interspersed with full-page illustrations) that end with Ranger helping both boys gain their freedom. The quality of the research behind these stories shines through: the setting is vivid, the characters are well-drawn, and the writing flows.
A great choice for fans of the Magic Treehouse series, who will be looking forward to Ranger’s next adventure. (Adventure. 5-9)Pub Date: June 30, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-545-63918-7
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
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