In a vein different from her prize-winning Haunting and Changeover, Malay writes of an extraterrestrial visitation to her native New Zealand. Bond, descended from humans and living eons hence, comes back to present-day earth on a school mission that is part character-test and part information-gathering. He encounters Jake, visiting her divorced father's new family, which includes Dora, also 12, and her younger brother, Lewis. Bond is pursued by Wirdegen, shadows in competition for the knowledge he holds; the children, trying to protect him, involve him in a family expedition, during which one of the Wirdegen possesses Lewis. Bond offers his life to save the children but then realizes that these shadows are not really evil but part of his test, and is transported back to his own planet; everyone slips far back in time and then returns gradually, trading basic truths about themselves all the while. Far less complex than Mahy's other fiction, this will suit a younger, less sophisticated audience. While the characterization lacks the depth and subtlety we've come to expect, the satisfying adventure with Bond takes precedence; we learn almost incidentally of Jake's home situation, where she has become caretaker of her grandparents and irresponsible mother. Jake, who is reconciled with Dora as they work together to save Bond, is no longer an alien in her father's house; yet her own status remains unresolved.
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1986
ISBN: 0590448986
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1986
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A nice but not requisite purchase.
A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.
Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.
A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7915-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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