A clever tale of rabbits, cabbage babies, purple carrots, mistakes made, and lessons learned.
A privileged girl and a starving rabbit unwittingly endanger their interdependent communities.
Longing to be a hero, Quincy Rabbit lives with his family in the Warren, where cabbagelike plants called Chou de vie, each containing a human baby, are grown and transported nightly to humans of Montpeyroux in exchange for purple carrots the rabbits need to live on. With Chou deliveries declining due to decreased human demand, the rabbits are starving, prompting Quincy to surreptitiously leave the Warren in search of purple carrot seeds, which he locates in a garden shed, unaware Fleurine d’Aubigné is watching him. The spoiled only child of the governing Grand Lumière, presumably White 12-year-old Fleurine is trying to grow purple carrots on her own in order to acquire a longed-for baby sister. Spying Quincy stealing her seeds, she secretly follows him to the Warren, where she steals a Chou, oblivious to how her actions will impact the Warren and Montpeyroux. Discovering his own actions accidentally led Fleurine to the Warren, Quincy knows he must undo the damage he’s caused. Narrating their stories in alternating voices, Quincy and Fleurine pass the blame as she desperately tries to protect and hide the stolen Chou while Quincy valiantly attempts to rescue and return it to the Warren. Both walk a fine line between hero and villain in this original tale based in part on European folklore.
A clever tale of rabbits, cabbage babies, purple carrots, mistakes made, and lessons learned. (author’s note) (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-306746-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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