Ike and Mem are pressured into visiting the Hawkins place, an abandoned and haunted house on the outskirts of town, but find that they are in for more than just an adventure. As Ike and Mem and their friends step on to the property, they notice a shed in back full of pigeons. Dave breaks a window to try to free them, but the loud crash frightens all the children into running away. Mem tells Ike that she saw someone watching from the window and they return to investigate—only to find themselves face to face with Mr. Hawkins. He is unhappy with the broken window and asks Ike and Mem for their phone number, but neither can remember it. He ominously tells them that he will be in touch. Ike’s conscience will not let him rest once he returns home, but instead of a beating heart, he hears the steady “Coo, coo, coo” of a pigeon. Ike and Mem find that Mr. Hawkins has sent a pigeon as a reminder and they eventually tell their parents the whole story, prompting a second and friendlier visit to the Hawkins place. Periodic pencil drawings accompany this very quiet, somewhat thoughtful tale. Young readers will want to stay tuned for other volumes of the adventures of Ike and Mem that are sure to follow. (Fiction. 6-9)
Pub Date: Dec. 30, 2001
ISBN: 0-8234-1670-4
Page Count: 55
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2002
Thanks to parrot-toting Braidbeard and his gloriously disreputable crew, a lad discovers the ups and downs of a pirate’s life in this rousing mini-epic. His mom and dad busy on another part of the beach, young Jeremy happily joins a band of hook-handed, eye-patched, snaggle-toothed pirates aboard their ship, learning pirate table manners (none), enjoying a game of nautical soccer until a shark eats the ball, then happily retiring without having to brush teeth, or even don pajamas. But then Jeremy learns that pirates don’t get tucked in, or get bedtime stories, and as for good night kisses—Avast! Worse yet, no one offers comfort when a storm hits. So, giving over the pirate’s life, Jeremy shows the crew where to bury its treasure (his backyard), and bids them goodbye. Shannon outfits Braidbeard’s leering, pop-eyed lot in ragged but colorful pirate dress, and gives his young ruffian-in-training a belt and bandanna to match. This isn’t likely to turn pirate wannabees into landlubbers, but it will inspire a chorus of yo-ho-hos. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-15-201848-4
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2003
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A brisk if bland offering for series fans, but cleverer metafictive romps abound.
The titular cookie runs off the page at a bookstore storytime, pursued by young listeners and literary characters.
Following on 13 previous How To Catch… escapades, Wallace supplies sometimes-tortured doggerel and Elkerton, a set of helter-skelter cartoon scenes. Here the insouciant narrator scampers through aisles, avoiding a series of elaborate snares set by the racially diverse young storytime audience with help from some classic figures: “Alice and her mad-hat friends, / as a gift for my unbirthday, / helped guide me through the walls of shelves— / now I’m bound to find my way.” The literary helpers don’t look like their conventional or Disney counterparts in the illustrations, but all are clearly identified by at least a broad hint or visual cue, like the unnamed “wizard” who swoops in on a broom to knock over a tower labeled “Frogwarts.” Along with playing a bit fast and loose with details (“Perhaps the boy with the magic beans / saved me with his cow…”) the author discards his original’s lip-smacking climax to have the errant snack circling back at last to his book for a comfier sort of happily-ever-after.
A brisk if bland offering for series fans, but cleverer metafictive romps abound. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7282-0935-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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