Grandfather and his spunky dog Roo set out on another silly and over-the-top adventure, which this time takes these two unlikely explorers from England and across the United States in search of Roo’s (in)famous grandfather, Old Blue. In their travels, which are characterized by calamities and last-minute escapes, the pair find themselves roped into such humorous situations as being stuck on a Greyhound bus with a pack of misbehaving greyhounds and being trapped in a town overrun by outlaw wild horses. Readers familiar with Horse’s work will recognize familiar elements and themes, including the duo’s uncanny ability to escape hair-raising situations and the cast of offbeat anthropomorphized animals that they meet along the way. As in the other Grandfather and Roo tales, this text is a series of bite-sized letters addressed to Grandfather’s gender-neutral grandchild, a technique that makes the whole both palatable and approachable for transitioning independent readers. Imaginative and fun. (Fantasy. 6-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-56145-451-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81175-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
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