An affirmation that it is all worthwhile, better suited, perhaps, to adolescents who will appreciate a look at where they...
A fanciful, thoughtful examination of a life well-lived.
As if building on the notion that we are all made of the stuff of stars, the author opens with the Star Child asking his “elders” if he may visit Earth. Their explanations of what he will need to do—“be born as a human child”—and what he will experience throughout his life on Earth make up the text of the book. Simple lines start with the basics, such as learning to walk, run and speak, then move on to more abstract concepts, describing feelings of pleasure, fear and sadness. These are paired with detailed, folk-art–style watercolor paintings and vignettes that seem to capture an earlier time: His mother is often in skirts; he rides a bike without a helmet or shoes; and no glowing electronic devices compete with fireflies. What the Star Child may do in adulthood is condensed: “Over the years you will try to make sense of that happy, sad, full, empty, always-shifting life you are in.” He may even forget where he came from and find it difficult to leave when the time comes. There’s no doubt that the sentiment is lovely, but it seems ill-matched to an audience that is still in the throes of becoming.
An affirmation that it is all worthwhile, better suited, perhaps, to adolescents who will appreciate a look at where they have been and what they may expect in the future and to older adults who will enjoy the philosophical bent. (Picture book. 6 & up)Pub Date: May 6, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-374-37182-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2014
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
Thought-provoking and charming.
A sophisticated robot—with the capacity to use senses of sight, hearing, and smell—is washed to shore on an island, the only robot survivor of a cargo of 500.
When otters play with her protective packaging, the robot is accidently activated. Roz, though without emotions, is intelligent and versatile. She can observe and learn in service of both her survival and her principle function: to help. Brown links these basic functions to the kind of evolution Roz undergoes as she figures out how to stay dry and intact in her wild environment—not easy, with pine cones and poop dropping from above, stormy weather, and a family of cranky bears. She learns to understand and eventually speak the language of the wild creatures (each species with its different “accent”). An accident leaves her the sole protector of a baby goose, and Roz must ask other creatures for help to shelter and feed the gosling. Roz’s growing connection with her environment is sweetly funny, reminiscent of Randall Jarrell’s The Animal Family. At every moment Roz’s actions seem plausible and logical yet surprisingly full of something like feeling. Robot hunters with guns figure into the climax of the story as the outside world intrudes. While the end to Roz’s benign and wild life is startling and violent, Brown leaves Roz and her companions—and readers—with hope.
Thought-provoking and charming. (Science fiction/fantasy. 7-11)Pub Date: April 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-316-38199-4
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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