Quirky, offbeat, and sweet.
Much like the Mars rover Opportunity, Meep, an all-terrain robotic vehicle, is equipped for whatever comes her way.
Her job involves taking photographs of the red planet and searching for signs of alien life—tasks she enthusiastically undertakes, almost like a friendly puppy eager for praise. Scientists back on Earth are thrilled with the data she collects, though disappointed that she hasn’t been able to provide evidence of extraterrestrials. Over time, Meep loses various parts, and when a sandstorm blocks the sun, rendering her solar panels useless, she must run on battery power. Meep has been so diligent that she seems almost human, and when she goes silent, it’s as though there’s been a death in the family, leaving the scientists to eulogize her through music. To their surprise, Meep contacts them again, crediting the love song they sent over the airwaves for her rejuvenation. But as the illustrations show, something else actually happened. Attentive readers of this tale, translated from Irish by the author, will realize exactly what took place during her silence and who besides the scientists has been following Meep’s every move across the planet. Meep’s earnest, appealing personality is supported effectively by the imaginative, out-of-this-world artwork, offering glimpses of the protagonist's perspective and what’s beyond her viewpoint. As with much of life, even on Mars, there’s often more than meets the eye. The human scientists vary in skin tone.
Quirky, offbeat, and sweet. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9781915071668
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little Island
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2025
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre.
Ice princess Lina must navigate family and school in this early chapter read.
The family picnic is today. This is not a typical gathering, since Lina’s maternal relatives are a royal family of Windtamers who have power over the weather and live in castles floating on clouds. Lina herself is mixed race, with black hair and a tan complexion like her Asian-presenting mother’s; her Groundling father appears to be a white human. While making a grand entrance at the castle of her grandfather, the North Wind, she fails to successfully ride a gust of wind and crashes in front of her entire family. This prompts her stern grandfather to ask that Lina move in with him so he can teach her to control her powers. Desperate to avoid this, Lina and her friend Claudia, who is black, get Lina accepted at the Hilltop Science and Arts Academy. Lina’s parents allow her to go as long as she does lessons with grandpa on Saturdays. However, fitting in at a Groundling school is rough, especially when your powers start freak winter storms! With the story unfurling in diary format, bright-pink–highlighted grayscale illustrations help move the plot along. There are slight gaps in the storytelling and the pacing is occasionally uneven, but Lina is full of spunk and promotes self-acceptance.
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: June 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-35393-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
A close encounter of the best kind.
Left behind when the space bus departs, a child discovers that the moon isn’t as lifeless as it looks.
While the rest of the space-suited class follows the teacher like ducklings, one laggard carrying crayons and a sketchbook sits down to draw our home planet floating overhead, falls asleep, and wakes to see the bus zooming off. The bright yellow bus, the gaggle of playful field-trippers, and even the dull gray boulders strewn over the equally dull gray lunar surface have a rounded solidity suggestive of Plasticine models in Hare’s wordless but cinematic scenes…as do the rubbery, one-eyed, dull gray creatures (think: those stress-busting dolls with ears that pop out when squeezed) that emerge from the regolith. The mutual shock lasts but a moment before the lunarians eagerly grab the proffered crayons to brighten the bland gray setting with silly designs. The creatures dive into the dust when the bus swoops back down but pop up to exchange goodbye waves with the errant child, who turns out to be an olive-skinned kid with a mop of brown hair last seen drawing one of their new friends with the one crayon—gray, of course—left in the box. Body language is expressive enough in this debut outing to make a verbal narrative superfluous.
A close encounter of the best kind. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4253-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Margaret Ferguson/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
