A disorienting and inconsistent tale of animal friendships.
Two kittens move to a new home and make new friends in Guberman’s children’s novella.
Young felines Meriwether and Camille live with their mother, Pearl, and their siblings. After their brothers and sisters are adopted,Pearl, Camille, and Meriwether move with their human owners to Chattahoochee, Florida. There, they live in a new barn and become involved in various adventures. Guberman’s book has some strong sections early on, such as a sequence in which a river’s fast current whisks the kittens away until a river keeper saves them by extending a tree branch: “Using all their strength, the kittens catch the branch and hold onto its rough bark.” However, things become distractingly fantastical in the book’s latter half. Up to that point, the narrative sticks to semirealistic scenarios, such as Meriwether and Camille’s befriending a cat on a leash, encountering a dog who loves chasing cats, and having a play date with a new feline pal. Even a section involving a bear cub lost from the zoo feels of a piece with what’s been established so far. But after that, the kittens travel to Atlanta, board a blimp at a zoo, and end up in the Amazon rainforest, where they meet an alligator with a rainbow coming out of his mouth—which the kittens use to return to Georgia, where they start attending school. The problem with this story isn’t the inclusion of fantastical elements, per se, but the abruptness with which they’re introduced relatively late in the story. Overall, the story feels convoluted and confusing; indeed, it could have easily been three separate books. Mitchell’s cartoon line drawings at the start of each chapter clearly represent the story’s events.
A disorienting and inconsistent tale of animal friendships.Pub Date: Dec. 10, 2021
ISBN: 9781954805088
Page Count: 99
Publisher: Bold Story Press
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading.
When Franklin School principal Mr. Boone announces a pet-show fundraiser, white third-grader Cody—whose lack of skill and interest in academics is matched by keen enthusiasm for and knowledge of animals—discovers his time to shine.
As with other books in this series, the children and adults are believable and well-rounded. Even the dialogue is natural—no small feat for a text easily accessible to intermediate readers. Character growth occurs, organically and believably. Students occasionally, humorously, show annoyance with teachers: “He made mad squinty eyes at Mrs. Molina, which fortunately she didn’t see.” Readers will be kept entertained by Cody’s various problems and the eventual solutions. His problems include needing to raise $10 to enter one of his nine pets in the show (he really wants to enter all of them), his troublesome dog Angus—“a dog who ate homework—actually, who ate everything and then threw up afterward”—struggles with homework, and grappling with his best friend’s apparently uncaring behavior toward a squirrel. Serious values and issues are explored with a light touch. The cheery pencil illustrations show the school’s racially diverse population as well as the memorable image of Mr. Boone wearing an elephant costume. A minor oddity: why does a child so immersed in animal facts call his male chicken a rooster but his female chickens chickens?
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: June 14, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-374-30223-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
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