Readers will join Alison in hoping for more cases to come their way.
Is Nanny X of the Nanny Action Patrol too old for the spy game?
It’s been so long since their first case (Nanny X, 2014) that fifth-grader Alison Pringle worries she, her brother, Jake, and their baby sister, Eliza, will never again experience the thrill of helping their secret-agent nanny chase and catch a bad guy. Then the mysterious Angler threatens to destroy the national treasures of Washington, D.C., if the president doesn’t install a fish sculpture created by the Angler on the White House lawn. Can Nanny X, the three Pringle children, a monkey named Howard, and fellow (and rival) NAP agent Boris discover who the Angler is before pieces of our national heritage are destroyed? If Ian Fleming wrote Mary Poppins, the outcome would resemble Rosenberg’s second pleasantly foolish mix of child care and espionage, which is as breezy and funny as the first. Alison and Jake, two Everykids, again trade off narrative duties chapter by chapter as they help Nanny X solve the case with her teething-ring handcuffs, baby-powder spyglass, and diaper-phones, thus ably proving she's not ready for retirement.
Readers will join Alison in hoping for more cases to come their way. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3533-3
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dizzyingly silly.
The famous superhero returns to fight another villain with all the trademark wit and humor the series is known for.
Despite the title, Captain Underpants is bizarrely absent from most of this adventure. His school-age companions, George and Harold, maintain most of the spotlight. The creative chums fool around with time travel and several wacky inventions before coming upon the evil Turbo Toilet 2000, making its return for vengeance after sitting out a few of the previous books. When the good Captain shows up to save the day, he brings with him dynamic action and wordplay that meet the series’ standards. The Captain Underpants saga maintains its charm even into this, the 11th volume. The epic is filled to the brim with sight gags, toilet humor, flip-o-ramas and anarchic glee. Holding all this nonsense together is the author’s good-natured sense of harmless fun. The humor is never gross or over-the-top, just loud and innocuous. Adults may roll their eyes here and there, but youngsters will eat this up just as quickly as they devoured every other Underpants episode.
Dizzyingly silly. (Humor. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-50490-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
With plenty left to be resolved, the next entry will be eagerly sought after.
Drake has been selected by the king to serve as a Dragon Master, quite a change for an 8-year-old farmer boy.
The dragons are a secret, and the reason King Roland has them is a mystery, but what is clear is that the Dragon Stone has identified Drake as one of the rare few children who have a special connection with dragons and the ability to serve as a trainer. Drake’s dragon is a long brown creature with, at first, no particular talents that Drake can identify. He calls the dragon Worm. It isn’t long before Drake begins to realize he has a very strong connection with Worm and can share what seem to be his dragon’s thoughts. After one of the other Dragon Masters decides to illicitly take the dragons outside, disaster strikes. The cave they are passing through collapses, blocking the passageway, and then Worm’s special talent becomes evident. The first of a new series of early chapter books, this entry is sure to attract fans. Brief chapters, large print, lots of action, attractive illustrations in every spread, including a maplike panorama, an enviable protagonist—who wouldn’t want to be a Dragon Master?—all combine to make an entertaining read.
With plenty left to be resolved, the next entry will be eagerly sought after. (Fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-64624-6
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Branches/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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