A dark-horse candidate faces two big political machines in this election campaign at the all-canine Barkadelphia School. Backed by their parents, jock Charles the bulldog (“More Meat for Lunch”) squares off against poodle Tiffany (“Vote Cute Vote Tif!”) in a campaign that quickly turns ugly, with anonymous accusations of cheating on tests and spending class dues on hairspray flying back and forth. Meanwhile, beneath all the hoopla, Otto (a Jack Russell) quietly polls his schoolmates on what they actually want, taking notes and, with help from his friend Melanie, making yummy cookies. Unsurprisingly, Otto wins in a landslide and is last seen successfully fulfilling his voters’ wishes, while his disappointed rivals are being primed for next year by their adult backers, and Melanie betrays a spendthrift liberal agenda: “Let’s bake up more cookies,” she proposes. “Enough for everyone!” Simplistic, but young readers will get the drift. Place this timely outing next to Mark Teague’s LaRue For Mayor (2008) and Doreen Cronin’s arch Duck For President (2004), illustrated by Betsy Lewin. (Picture book. 6-9)
Pub Date: June 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-545-03722-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81175-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
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