Atmospheric and slightly disturbing.
A youngster is taken on a rite-of-passage trip to the snowy mountains in this French import via Canada.
The narrator, an unnamed youngster whose parents are absent (possibly dead; it’s not clear) and who now goes to a new boarding school, comes home from school to find Bruce, an old companion of the narrator’s parents, sitting with the narrator’s uncle. Years earlier, Bruce had told the youngster that one day he will take them to “seek the mountain in oneself.” Now Bruce asks, “Are you ready?” Not sure but wanting to get “away, far away,” the youngster packs a bag, and the two drive far out to the mountains. The two begin to ski beyond the markers, the narrator following “Bruce’s tracks exactly.” Then there’s an accident, and the narrator must find the courage to save Bruce. This evocative story only hints at particulars: Where are the parents? Who is Bruce, really—a friend to show a fearful child how to be courageous or someone being careless with a child’s life to soothe his own demons? The illustrations, done in a limited palette of flat blues, browns, and reds, showcase a spare graphic-design–like style that is just as evocative and ambiguous (paper-white faces are rendered without features) as the narrative, while the use of white space to define shapes also effectively gives a sense of the vast, cold space of the mountains.
Atmospheric and slightly disturbing. (Picture book. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 19, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-77164-685-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greystone Kids
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
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