Avast! Young mateys not ready for the original will get an eyeful, an earful and a taste of the timeless pirate adventure...
A rousing abridgment of the classic tale is buoyed by atmospheric sound effects and hearty digital surprises.
Though not all of the 91 screens feature interactive effects, each is illustrated. These are usually multilayered and shadowy, and all are unfailingly evocative of the violent events, exotic locales and dramatic highlights young Jim describes in the overlaid narrative. Automated animations include moving strips of scenery and eerie fade-ins, among others. The frequent touch-activated features (each of which is cued by an inconspicuous icon) are an unusually diverse mix: Sliders cause figures to rise or fog to clear, spinners focus a spyglass or spin a skeleton around a compass rose, cannon fire with a tap. Three-dimensional looks are achieved with moveable scenes viewed through a window. The background audio is similarly varied, switching from a hornpipe to a melodramatic orchestral blare with a turn of the page or presenting a medley of creaking timbers, seagull cries, crashing waves and low muttering. A tap at any page’s bottom brings up buttons to turn the sound off, check a glossary or open a “Contents” strip of page-by-page thumbnails.
Avast! Young mateys not ready for the original will get an eyeful, an earful and a taste of the timeless pirate adventure that awaits. (iPad storybook app. 8-11)Pub Date: Nov. 24, 2010
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Cyberia Media
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2011
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
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale.
After a tsunami devastates their habitat in the Salish Sea, a young orca and her brother embark on a remarkable adventure.
Vega’s matriarchal family expects her to become a hunter and wayfinder, with her younger brother, Deneb, protecting and supporting her. Invited to guide her family to their Gathering Place to hunt salmon, Vega’s underwater miscalculations endanger them all, and an embarrassed Vega questions whether she should be a wayfinder. When the baby sister she hoped would become her life companion is stillborn, a distraught Vega carries the baby away to a special resting place, shocking her grieving family. Dispatched to find his missing sister, Deneb locates Vega in the midst of a terrible tsunami. To escape the waters polluted by shattered boats, Vega leads Deneb into unfamiliar open sea. Alone and hungry, the young siblings encounter a spectacular giant whale and travel briefly with shark-hunting orcas. Trusting her instincts and gaining emotional strength from contemplating the vastness of the sky, Vega knows she must lead her brother home and help save her surviving family. In alternating first-person voices, Vega and Deneb tell their harrowing story, engaging young readers while educating them about the marine ecosystem. Realistic black-and-white illustrations enhance the maritime setting.
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale. (maps, wildlife facts, tribes of the Salish Sea watershed, environmental and geographical information, how to help orcas, author’s note, artist’s note, resources) (Animal fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-299592-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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