A sympathetic adventure starring a beloved sea mammal.
A young male sea otter leaves his original raft to strike out on his own, encountering environmental dangers created by humans.
The present-tense narrative stays with Kah-Lan’s viewpoint as he ventures away from his mother and other female otters and pups. He is eager for adventure and to find his own companions. Hyphenated words describe much of what Kah-Lan sees and experiences: sea-trees and land-trees; stink-ink for the dark cloud of oil in the water; sea-meat for what he’d be if an orca caught him as well as his own prey; dive-and-dig and roll-and-rinse for otter actions; drift-trees for paddleboards. He recognizes the relative ages—Elders and pups—of “the strange furless ones that walk on their hind legs”; their human speech is shown in italics. Marine creatures are named in ways readers will find familiar: octopus, sea gull, seal, shark, and the orcas that would eat him. Otter habits of storing food in fur pouches, using rocks to pound shells, and meticulously grooming are all introduced. Kah-Lan’s reactions are described in terms of human emotion: he is “giddy with adventure”; he feels “prickles of concern.” When Kah-Lan and another two young male otters swim into an oil spill, he becomes very ill. The otters are taken to a marine mammal rescue center where one otter dies, but Kah-Lan is healed. An extensive author’s note offers facts and context. The mostly declarative sentences have an unvaried rhythm that makes for somewhat ponderous reading, but Autio’s empathy and Kah-Lan’s intriguing perspective help to make up for this. Children who have some familiarity with marine mammal rescue centers may be its most likely readership. (Illustrations not seen.)
A sympathetic adventure starring a beloved sea mammal. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-989724-07-1
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Crwth Press
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.
A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
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