A captivating tale and guide that could help young players learn and enjoy chess.
An illustrated work offers a children’s story and a chess manual.
This volumeis two books in one. The first takes place on the even-numbered pages. It’s a simple tale that brings chess pieces to life, focusing on Prunella, a pawn determined to make it to the other side of the board. At the same time, a straightforward chess guide is presented on the odd-numbered pages, with Prunella’s tale mirroring what is being taught on the following page. For example, on one page, Prunella is watching the center of the board as a fight for control takes place. “Being short is the worst!” she says. “I might as well just plop down and wait for the action to come closer, because I can’t see a thing.” On the following page, readers are told that “most great chess players focus on gaining control of the middle of the chess board at the beginning of each game.” Ferry’s intriguing presentation works well even if Prunella’s story is a little hemmed in by the rules of chess. The tale is aided by whimsical and delightful illustrations by Zina throughout. As the pages turn, the game becomes a bit more complicated, and Prunella’s story gets a tad more action-filled. So after a particularly scary move made by Prunella’s Queen Nyella on one page, the next page follows up with “the tactic that Nyella utilized is called a ‘fork,’ ” going on to explain the move and its uses in detail. This is a worthwhile book for teaching children chess, perhaps examining the odd pages at a chess table and treating the even pages as a bedtime story. That yarn comes with a moral that works as well in life as on the chess board. As Prunella learns, “It wasn’t her individual status that mattered. It was the contributions of the whole team working together that was important.”
A captivating tale and guide that could help young players learn and enjoy chess.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 979-8986059211
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Aug. 5, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A pleasing premise for book lovers.
A fantasy-loving bookworm makes a wonderful, terrible bargain.
When sixth grader Poppy Woodlock’s historic preservationist parents move the family to the Oregon coast to work on the titular stately home, Poppy’s sure she’ll find magic. Indeed, the exiled water nymph in the manor’s ruined swimming pool grants a wish, but: “Magic isn’t free. It cosssts.” The price? Poppy’s favorite book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In return she receives Sampson, a winged lion cub who is everything Poppy could have hoped for. But she soon learns that the nymph didn’t take just her own physical book—she erased Narnia from Poppy’s world. And it’s just the first loss: Soon, Poppy’s grandmother’s journal’s gone, then The Odyssey, and more. The loss is heartbreaking, but Sampson’s a wonderful companion, particularly as Poppy’s finding middle school a tough adjustment. Hartman’s premise is beguiling—plenty of readers will identify with Poppy, both as a fellow bibliophile and as a kid struggling to adapt. Poppy’s repeatedly expressed faith that unveiling Sampson will bring some sort of vindication wears thin, but that does not detract from the central drama. It’s a pity that the named real-world books Poppy reads are notably lacking in diversity; a story about the power of literature so limited in imagination lets both itself and readers down. Main characters are cued White; there is racial diversity in the supporting cast. Chapters open with atmospheric spot art. (This review has been updated to reflect the final illustrations.)
A pleasing premise for book lovers. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780316448222
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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