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MOI AND MARIE ANTOINETTE

Such resolute cutesiness can have a dreary effect, which, alas, is true in this view of the doomed French queen as observed by her pug dog. What happened to Marie Antoinette at the guillotine appears only in the author’s note: Sébastian the pug, who refers to himself as moi like Miss Piggy does, accompanies the 14-year-old royal from Austria to France, where she is married to the king’s grandson. The dog, mostly ignored, isn’t happy until Marie Antoinette’s daughter Thérèse is of an age to play, when the now-queen has borne a second child. Versailles is not cozy for children or dogs, and visions of the queen’s sumptuous raiment and impossible hairdos contrast with Thérèse in the mirrored halls holding the dog or running in the gardens in parallel to her mother’s childhood days. Gouache in matte pastel colors illustrate this lighthearted image of Versailles populated by figures with rosebud mouths and doll-like features. Will appeal to those who love princess stories and can understand that money, jewels and fancy clothes don’t necessarily bring happiness. (Picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2006

ISBN: 1-58234-958-4

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2006

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DIARY OF A SPIDER

The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005

ISBN: 0-06-000153-4

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005

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HENRY AND MUDGE AND THE STARRY NIGHT

From the Henry and Mudge series

Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)

Pub Date: April 1, 1998

ISBN: 0-689-81175-6

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998

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