These magical, mischievous pooches prove irresistible.
Two pups seek their forever home.
Jinx, a friendly witch, finds an abandoned litter of precious—and “slightly magical”—puppies and takes them to the Shelter for Slightly Magical Pets, where they’ll find homes with witches, wizards, and warlocks. The middle pups—Double, Toil, and Trouble—are quickly adopted. But the oldest, Hocus (who can see two minutes into the future), and Pocus, the youngest, who can make bad feelings disappear, refuse to be separated and so have a harder time finding homes. When Jinx decides to help them by making a potion that will guarantee that they’ll be adopted, the pups plot to modify it to ensure they’ll both go to the same owner. They sneak into Jinx’s bag and secretly go home with her. Hocus usually leads the way, but now shy Pocus must keep Hocus, who’s more interested in meeting new friends, on track. Things go awry—will their plan work? This lively chapter book is engaging, with unexpected and entertaining developments. A few words such as unacceptable, dueled, and cauldrons add a bit of a challenge. The colorful, cartoonish illustrations add verve and unquestionable cuteness. Brown-skinned Jinx wears glasses and has rippling raspberry-colored hair; she states her pronouns before introducing herself to the pups, as do other characters.
These magical, mischievous pooches prove irresistible. (Chapter book. 5-8)Pub Date: May 28, 2024
ISBN: 9781536224924
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2024
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre.
Ice princess Lina must navigate family and school in this early chapter read.
The family picnic is today. This is not a typical gathering, since Lina’s maternal relatives are a royal family of Windtamers who have power over the weather and live in castles floating on clouds. Lina herself is mixed race, with black hair and a tan complexion like her Asian-presenting mother’s; her Groundling father appears to be a white human. While making a grand entrance at the castle of her grandfather, the North Wind, she fails to successfully ride a gust of wind and crashes in front of her entire family. This prompts her stern grandfather to ask that Lina move in with him so he can teach her to control her powers. Desperate to avoid this, Lina and her friend Claudia, who is black, get Lina accepted at the Hilltop Science and Arts Academy. Lina’s parents allow her to go as long as she does lessons with grandpa on Saturdays. However, fitting in at a Groundling school is rough, especially when your powers start freak winter storms! With the story unfurling in diary format, bright-pink–highlighted grayscale illustrations help move the plot along. There are slight gaps in the storytelling and the pacing is occasionally uneven, but Lina is full of spunk and promotes self-acceptance.
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: June 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-35393-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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