A fast-paced series opener that introduces a new kind of princess story.
A young girl seeks her own happily-ever-after.
Korean American Mihi Whan Park is at a crossroads. Her best friend, Genevieve, is pulling away, and worse, she called Mihi’s love of all things princess childish. All her life Mihi has feared that she is not princess material, and she has been looking for a happy ending in which things feel right. Mihi runs into classmates Reese, who is Black, and Savannah, who presents White, in the school library, and the three girls decide to sneak candies from the librarian’s fridge. They discover that the fridge is a portal: It transports them to the magical Rainbow Forest. There they meet three chatty mice who are shocked that beings from what they call the Grey World have made it into their land. The mice direct the girls to Sleeping Beauty’s castle, where they can seek their own fairy-tale ending. After being greeted by Bertha, Sleeping Beauty’s lady-in-waiting, they are presented with a list of odd rules and requirements for becoming princesses. Eventually a more sinister truth reveals itself, compelling the girls to frantically search for a way home. Characters from popular European fairy tales and folktales make appearances, often somewhat randomly and without a clear purpose, and some worldbuilding rules regarding the Rainbow Forest and its magic are left unanswered; the next volume may clarify some of these elements. Final art not seen.
A fast-paced series opener that introduces a new kind of princess story. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 8, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-81431-9
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
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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