An appealing tale that suggests that music is the path to interplanetary harmony.
Two robots explore a strange planet and form a friendship along the way.
Rover’s landing on an unidentified planet is a bit rough, resulting in a damaged communication antenna, but the wheeled robot explorer can still search the planet for new discoveries. One search unearths Speck (which stands for Special Planet Explorer Class-K), an enthusiastic, helpful, slightly ditzy, music-loving robot explorer. When the robots discover “large life-forms composed of solid mineral compounds,” otherwise known as giant rock people, Speck’s opera music prevents the creatures from crushing them; instead, they start dancing. Rocky, one of the creatures, befriends Rover and Speck and shares his creative rock art, including a huge stone arena with great acoustics. Here, with encouragement from the robots, the rock people create percussion background music, and soon Rocky and his friends break into song (“Rocks will, rocks will help you! / Rocks will, rocks will help you!”). Although the music isn’t loud enough to call Rover’s ship, Rover, with help from Speck and the rock people, finds another way to make contact. Amusing science-speak like “ignitable mineral masses” (coal) and “nearest spheroid of luminous stellar plasma” (the sun) dot the text, and periodic “Fun Science Facts” add tidbits of relevant information about minerals, microseconds, space caves, and more—and sometimes a joke. Brightly colored cartoon illustrations tell the story clearly and bring to life earnest Rover, adorable Speck, and the fun-loving rock people.
An appealing tale that suggests that music is the path to interplanetary harmony. (information on famous rovers, drawing instructions) (Graphic novel. 7-10)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5253-0566-5
Page Count: 104
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
More trampling in the vineyards of the Literary Classics section, with results that will tickle fancies high and low.
Recasting Dog Man and his feline ward, Li’l Petey, as costumed superheroes, Pilkey looks East of Eden in this follow-up to Tale of Two Kitties (2017).
The Steinbeck novel’s Cain/Abel motif gets some play here, as Petey, “world’s evilest cat” and cloned Li’l Petey’s original, tries assiduously to tempt his angelic counterpart over to the dark side only to be met, ultimately at least, by Li’l Petey’s “Thou mayest.” (There are also occasional direct quotes from the novel.) But inner struggles between good and evil assume distinctly subordinate roles to riotous outer ones, as Petey repurposes robots built for a movie about the exploits of Dog Man—“the thinking man’s Rin Tin Tin”—while leading a general rush to the studio’s costume department for appropriate good guy/bad guy outfits in preparation for the climactic battle. During said battle and along the way Pilkey tucks in multiple Flip-O-Rama inserts as well as general gags. He lists no fewer than nine ways to ask “who cut the cheese?” and includes both punny chapter titles (“The Bark Knight Rises”) and nods to Hamiltonand Mary Poppins. The cartoon art, neatly and brightly colored by Garibaldi, is both as easy to read as the snappy dialogue and properly endowed with outsized sound effects, figures displaying a range of skin colors, and glimpses of underwear (even on robots).
More trampling in the vineyards of the Literary Classics section, with results that will tickle fancies high and low. (drawing instructions) (Graphic fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-93518-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
What a wag.
What do you get from sewing the head of a smart dog onto the body of a tough police officer? A new superhero from the incorrigible creator of Captain Underpants.
Finding a stack of old Dog Mancomics that got them in trouble back in first grade, George and Harold decide to craft a set of new(ish) adventures with (more or less) improved art and spelling. These begin with an origin tale (“A Hero Is Unleashed”), go on to a fiendish attempt to replace the chief of police with a “Robo Chief” and then a temporarily successful scheme to make everyone stupid by erasing all the words from every book (“Book ’Em, Dog Man”), and finish off with a sort of attempted alien invasion evocatively titled “Weenie Wars: The Franks Awaken.” In each, Dog Man squares off against baddies (including superinventor/archnemesis Petey the cat) and saves the day with a clever notion. With occasional pauses for Flip-O-Rama featurettes, the tales are all framed in brightly colored sequential panels with hand-lettered dialogue (“How do you feel, old friend?” “Ruff!”) and narrative. The figures are studiously diverse, with police officers of both genders on view and George, the chief, and several other members of the supporting cast colored in various shades of brown. Pilkey closes as customary with drawing exercises, plus a promise that the canine crusader will be further unleashed in a sequel.
What a wag. (Graphic fantasy. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-58160-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
