There is value in escaping to a fairyland with magical creatures and a happy ending, and readers will relish this story in...
Round little Ivy learns from her kindhearted (if a bit disorganized) grandmother that caring for the sick and injured brings great rewards.
In the fairyland town of Broomsweep, every garden is tidy and every front porch is spotless, except at Grandmother Meg’s cottage. But Grandmother is famous for taking care of injured and sick animals. Ivy helps her nurse a sneezing chipmunk, a sad fox, and a three-legged griffin. When the new queen announces a contest to select the best town in the land, the villagers (especially the mayor's wife, Mistress Peevish) become alarmed. How could they be selected the best town with all these sick and dirty creatures destroying the neighborhood? Matters become worse when a dragon seeks Meg’s care. But the villain is not a fire-breathing dragon—it is the mayor’s wife, whose dog wriggles away from her grasp, to be rescued, of course, by one of Grandmother’s patients. With steady pacing, Coville gives readers a pixie’s view of the action, fluttering close enough to hear the characters’ conversations; Kaspar’s occasional pencil sketches bring warmth and compassion to the characters. White Ivy is a gentle heroine, converting a young bully into an ally.
There is value in escaping to a fairyland with magical creatures and a happy ending, and readers will relish this story in which the bullies are beaten by kindness and compassion, even if it gets a little messy. (Fantasy. 6-9)Pub Date: March 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-553-53975-2
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 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
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look...
Winning actually isn’t everything, as jazz-happy Rooster learns when he goes up against the legendary likes of Mules Davis and Ella Finchgerald at the barnyard talent show.
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look good—particularly after his “ ‘Hen from Ipanema’ [makes] / the barnyard chickies swoon.”—but in the end the competition is just too stiff. No matter: A compliment from cool Mules and the conviction that he still has the world’s best band soon puts the strut back in his stride. Alexander’s versifying isn’t always in tune (“So, he went to see his cousin, / a pianist of great fame…”), and despite his moniker Rooster plays an electric bass in Bower’s canted country scenes. Children are unlikely to get most of the jokes liberally sprinkled through the text, of course, so the adults sharing it with them should be ready to consult the backmatter, which consists of closing notes on jazz’s instruments, history and best-known musicians.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58536-688-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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