Readers will have a view to a kill-er book!
A deceptive doppelgänger can’t stop the fun!
Charlie Palmer, aka Agent Llama, is back for another mission, and the stakes are even higher! Charlie is fresh off a successful assignment rescuing a pair of underpants in Agent Llama (2021), and this sophomore title ups the danger as the world is threatened with carb overload. The evil Noodle Doom Machine—think a sinister version of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs—has been compromised, and the world is threatened with a cascade of extreme spaghetti, barricades of grated cheese, and waves of marinara sauce. More alarmingly, the vile villain responsible looks exactly like Charlie! With HQ out of commission, there’s no time to lose as Agent Llama prepares to take on this terrorist twin alone—with her assortment of zany spy gadgets. Spy fans will have a (thunder)ball with the over-the-top storyline, and storytellers who lean into the melodrama will have fun sharing the tale, too. The meter flows well for reading aloud, and the colorful, delightfully busy illustrations pay homage to classic spy thrillers while still feeling modern and fresh. Trivia-loving caregivers and educators could use this to discuss the differences between llamas and alpacas, but readers who are just here for the adventure will get a kick out of the story alone. Like many spy adventures—including the earlier installment—the book emphasizes the action over logic, but the thrills more than compensate. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Readers will have a view to a kill-er book! (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 16, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-68010-285-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Only for dedicated fans of the series.
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster.
“I spot my monster right away. / He’s practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won’t be scared anymore!” The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green–striped tail. The kid employs a “bag of tricks” to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he “rips a massive FART!!” that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster’s house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton’s bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace’s limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off.
Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with...
Reynolds and Brown have crafted a Halloween tale that balances a really spooky premise with the hilarity that accompanies any mention of underwear.
Jasper Rabbit needs new underwear. Plain White satisfies him until he spies them: “Creepy underwear! So creepy! So comfy! They were glorious.” The underwear of his dreams is a pair of radioactive-green briefs with a Frankenstein face on the front, the green color standing out all the more due to Brown’s choice to do the entire book in grayscale save for the underwear’s glowing green…and glow they do, as Jasper soon discovers. Despite his “I’m a big rabbit” assertion, that glow creeps him out, so he stuffs them in the hamper and dons Plain White. In the morning, though, he’s wearing green! He goes to increasing lengths to get rid of the glowing menace, but they don’t stay gone. It’s only when Jasper finally admits to himself that maybe he’s not such a big rabbit after all that he thinks of a clever solution to his fear of the dark. Brown’s illustrations keep the backgrounds and details simple so readers focus on Jasper’s every emotion, writ large on his expressive face. And careful observers will note that the underwear’s expression also changes, adding a bit more creep to the tale.
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with Dr. Seuss’ tale of animate, empty pants. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0298-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
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