With help from two sparkly and spunky Elbow Fairies, this action-packed yarn deftly melds fairy-tale magic with real-life...
In Collen’s (Enjella Uprooted, 2012) witty, fact-based fantasy adventure, a brother and sister magically travel to the year 1835, where they weather a violent storm and help a lighthouse keeper save a ship at sea.
Once a Tooth Fairy, Enjella is now an “Elbow Fairy,” the kind of fairy children can count upon to always be “at your elbow whenever you need them.” A young girl named Abigail is Enjella’s personal charge; Elbow Fairy cohort Alicia is assigned to Bennett, Abigail’s older brother. Bennett’s belief in fairies is fading, but Enjella and Alica pop in to transport the siblings to a beach in Key West, Fla., for some sandy, tide-pool fun. A radar-versus-lighthouses debate arises, and Alicia decides that an in-person history lesson is in order. Suddenly, it’s 1835, a hurricane is brewing, and Barbara Mabrity, real-life keeper of the Key West lighthouse, is struggling to clean and refuel the lanterns in time to guide ships through the crashing waves. With the ability to shrink, grow, fly and become invisible, the fairies and their charges help Mrs. Mabrity and her children through the crisis. An adroit mix of fantasy, fact and action, this spunky fairy tale includes one particularly humorous touch: The fairies’ hair and clothing change according to their surroundings, their mood and conversation. When Alicia breaks fairy rules by wafting the children back to the 19th century, Enjella’s disapproval manifests itself in her “suddenly pulled back hair” and a police hat that appears on her head. Lighthouse keeper Mrs. Mabrity sweeps “millions of bugs” out of the big lanterns and Alicia’s hair sprouts fly swatters. Enjella ponders a problem while wearing a “Sherlock Holmes detective hat,” and with the successful outcome of their mission, Alicia sports “a full Navy uniform.” The story ends with Abigail and Bennett back in their own time, but further enjoyable adventures surely await.
With help from two sparkly and spunky Elbow Fairies, this action-packed yarn deftly melds fairy-tale magic with real-life history.Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2013
ISBN: 978-0985573225
Page Count: 58
Publisher: Streamline Brands
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A nice but not requisite purchase.
A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.
Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.
A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7915-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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BOOK REVIEW
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