In this lightweight tale of three children who bring home a dragon’s egg, the grownups are, for once, co-conspirators rather than obstacles. The dragonling that hatches on Jason’s little sister Rose’s bed doesn’t stay a secret for long—but, amazingly, not only are Mom and Dad enchanted with Drac, so are local handyman “Flash” Martin and nosy librarian Amelia Binns. Everyone willingly puts heads together to figure out how to feed and care for Drac, and, most important, to keep her out of the public eye; tasks complicated considerably by Drac’s ability to fly, spit flames, and, shedding skins as she goes, grow like a weed. Among other satellite plot lines, McLerran (Year of the Ranch, 1996, etc.) gives Jason a severe case of middle-siblingitis to get over and his father a midlife career change; meanwhile, Drac reaches maturity, repays her extended family both with untold wealth—the scales on all those shed skins turn out to be pure gold—and a deserted island to live on so they can all stay together, then lays an egg of her own. The various subplots are wrapped up neatly, and Drac, outwardly as fearsome as can be but actually gentle and sociable, will appeal strongly to young dragon fans. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 1-888842-15-6
Page Count: 142
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2000
Bishop’s spectacular photographs of the tiny red-eyed tree frog defeat an incidental text from Cowley (Singing Down the Rain, 1997, etc.). The frog, only two inches long, is enormous in this title; it appears along with other nocturnal residents of the rain forests of Central America, including the iguana, ant, katydid, caterpillar, and moth. In a final section, Cowley explains how small the frog is and aspects of its life cycle. The main text, however, is an afterthought to dramatic events in the photos, e.g., “But the red-eyed tree frog has been asleep all day. It wakes up hungry. What will it eat? Here is an iguana. Frogs do not eat iguanas.” Accompanying an astonishing photograph of the tree frog leaping away from a boa snake are three lines (“The snake flicks its tongue. It tastes frog in the air. Look out, frog!”) that neither advance nor complement the action. The layout employs pale and deep green pages and typeface, and large jewel-like photographs in which green and red dominate. The combination of such visually sophisticated pages and simplistic captions make this a top-heavy, unsatisfying title. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-590-87175-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
Less charming than the opener but does feature a thimbleful of moral quandary at its center.
Armed only with her magical sewing needle, foundling mouse Delphine sets out to confront the cruel rat king in this duology closer.
As vicious rat armies pillage the mouse realms in search of her and her pointy, long-hidden treasure, Delphine finds herself waging an inner war that parallels the outer one. According to dusty documents and other reputable sources, the needle’s good powers can be perverted, but she sees no other way except killing to stop evil rat King Midnight. While struggling with a grim determination to go over to the dark side that sets her at odds with her own fundamentally loving nature, Delphine threads her way along with loyal allies past various scrapes—only to come, climactically, face to face with not only her nemesis, but her own past. Moon stitches in flashbacks to fill out the details of a tragic old love triangle that reaches its fruition here and sews her tale up with a return to Château Desjardins just in time for Cinderella’s wedding and a celebratory rodentine ball in the chandelier overhead, and she leaves a fringe of epilogue hinting at further installments to come.
Less charming than the opener but does feature a thimbleful of moral quandary at its center. (secret codes) (Animal fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: March 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-368-04833-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2021
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