Wordplay and humor provide an effective vehicle for a valuable moral.
“No one in the town of Bonnyripple ever kept a grudge. No one, that is, except old Cornelius, the Grudge Keeper.” So begins this original fairy tale that provides a literal illustration of the idiom “holding a grudge.”
Three grudges are born in scene-setting vignettes: Minnie’s goat eats Elvira Bogg’s prizewinning zinnias. A schoolboy snatches the schoolmaster’s toupee. And tragically, clumsy Big Otto “stomp[s] on Lily Belle’s new shoes at the spring fling.” The grudges are actual pieces of paper that the angry, pinch-faced people hand over to a gentle old man named Cornelius. His house is jammed full with these scrolls, each one representing a hurt feeling. But one night, the wind begins to blow. Like a tornado, it rips through town, blowing out candles and flinging pies into the air. The next morning, the people of Bonnyripple storm up to Cornelius’ house with all their new complaints. But what has happened to all the grudges? More importantly, what has happened to Cornelius? Rockliff has created a clever fable characterized by ornate language, extraordinary characters and billowy atmosphere. “Tiffs and huffs, squabbles and quibbles—all the grudges had been tossed away, down to the last small scrap of pique.” Wheeler’s strong, witty ink-and-watercolor illustrations combine with the text to humorously demonstrate that “holding a grudge” is a bad thing.
Wordplay and humor provide an effective vehicle for a valuable moral. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-56145-729-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Feb. 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2014
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...
Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.
A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.
The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-30311-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre.
Ice princess Lina must navigate family and school in this early chapter read.
The family picnic is today. This is not a typical gathering, since Lina’s maternal relatives are a royal family of Windtamers who have power over the weather and live in castles floating on clouds. Lina herself is mixed race, with black hair and a tan complexion like her Asian-presenting mother’s; her Groundling father appears to be a white human. While making a grand entrance at the castle of her grandfather, the North Wind, she fails to successfully ride a gust of wind and crashes in front of her entire family. This prompts her stern grandfather to ask that Lina move in with him so he can teach her to control her powers. Desperate to avoid this, Lina and her friend Claudia, who is black, get Lina accepted at the Hilltop Science and Arts Academy. Lina’s parents allow her to go as long as she does lessons with grandpa on Saturdays. However, fitting in at a Groundling school is rough, especially when your powers start freak winter storms! With the story unfurling in diary format, bright-pink–highlighted grayscale illustrations help move the plot along. There are slight gaps in the storytelling and the pacing is occasionally uneven, but Lina is full of spunk and promotes self-acceptance.
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: June 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-35393-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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