With pluck and community spirit, the Raccoon River Kids get it done—another winner.
The can-do kids of Raccoon River help find a home for a stray dog.
First grader Lili Tucker has found a dog—or as she puts it to third grader Brandon, who walks with her to elementary school each morning, “a dog found me.” Not telling her parents, because her mother doesn’t like dogs, Lili hides “Spunky” in the shed and asks Brandon to help her figure out what to do. Brandon enlists the help of his friends, the very competent Hannah and Nico, and another Raccoon River adventure begins. As in Blueberry Bonanza (2017) and Extravaganza at the Plaza (2018), the children brainstorm to achieve a goal—this time to find Spunky a home. There are setbacks, but the kids persevere with spirit and determination, involving their community, and eventually all turns out even better than they’d hoped. Newcomer Lili joins Hannah, Nico, and Brandon, whom readers are familiar with from previous books. Earnest and plucky, Lili is a treasure—a perfect fit for author Wohl’s direct, uncomplicated, dryly funny writing. Illustrator Tuchman’s black-and-white spot illustrations are straightforwardly just right, breaking up the text visually for young readers. Hannah, Nico, Brandon, and Lili are shown as white, while other people illustrated have darker skin tones, and one mother-daughter pair are shown wearing hijab.
With pluck and community spirit, the Raccoon River Kids get it done—another winner. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-943978-43-4
Page Count: 88
Publisher: Persnickety Press
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Alert readers will find the implicit morals: know your audience, mostly, but also never underestimate the power of “rock”...
The theme of persistence (for better or worse) links four tales of magic, trickery, and near disasters.
Lachenmeyer freely borrows familiar folkloric elements, subjecting them to mildly comical twists. In the nearly wordless “Hip Hop Wish,” a frog inadvertently rubs a magic lamp and finds itself saddled with an importunate genie eager to shower it with inappropriate goods and riches. In the title tale, an increasingly annoyed music-hating witch transforms a persistent minstrel into a still-warbling cow, horse, sheep, goat, pig, duck, and rock in succession—then is horrified to catch herself humming a tune. Athesius the sorcerer outwits Warthius, a rival trying to steal his spells via a parrot, by casting silly ones in Ig-pay Atin-lay in the third episode, and in the finale, a painter’s repeated efforts to create a flattering portrait of an ogre king nearly get him thrown into a dungeon…until he suddenly understands what an ogre’s idea of “flattering” might be. The narratives, dialogue, and sound effects leave plenty of elbow room in Blocker’s big, brightly colored panels for the expressive animal and human(ish) figures—most of the latter being light skinned except for the golden genie, the blue ogre, and several people of color in the “Sorcerer’s New Pet.”
Alert readers will find the implicit morals: know your audience, mostly, but also never underestimate the power of “rock” music. (Graphic short stories. 8-10)Pub Date: June 18, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-59643-750-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
Readers will be waiting to see how Charlie faces his next challenge in a series that marks a lovely change of pace from the...
Charlie Bumpers is doomed. The one teacher he never wanted in the whole school turns out to be his fourth-grade teacher.
Charlie recalls third grade, when he accidentally hit the scariest teacher in the whole school with his sneaker. “I know all about you, Charlie Bumpers,” she says menacingly on the first day of fourth grade. Now, in addition to all the hardships of starting school, he has gotten off on the wrong foot with her. Charlie’s dry and dramatic narrative voice clearly reveals the inner life of a 9-year-old—the glass is always half empty, especially in light of a series of well-intentioned events gone awry. It’s quite a litany: “Hitting Mrs. Burke in the head with the sneaker. The messy desk. The swinging on the door. The toilet paper. And now this—the shoe on the roof.” Harley has teamed once again with illustrator Gustavson (Lost and Found, 2012) to create a real-life world in which a likable kid must face the everyday terrors of childhood: enormous bullies, looming teachers and thick gym coaches with huge pointing fingers. Into this series opener, Harley magically weaves the simple lesson that people, even teachers, can surprise you.
Readers will be waiting to see how Charlie faces his next challenge in a series that marks a lovely change of pace from the sarcasm of Wimpy Kid. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-56145-732-8
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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