A playful addition to an entertaining and punny series.
This third installment relies on the series’ winning formula: puns galore, a mystery, and unreliable magic.
At the Covenly Fall Fair, the three witches, Yuckmina, Hildegurp, and Glubbifer, run their carnival ride, the Flying Broom, while Jessica, their sensible 9-year-old friend from the earlier books, manages the nearby petting zoo. Soon, they have a mystery on their hands: One of the prize hens, Ruth Bader Ginsbuck; a vest-wearing, top-hatted frog; and the sisters’ cat, Graymalkin, are missing. Can the detectives find them—and also undo some unfortunate romantic and shape-shifting spells, distract a demanding spoiled boy, and avoid falling “fowl” of a chicken-suited villain who seems to have it in for the sisters? Many of the book’s puns will be spotted only by the Shakespeare-fluent—some reference Macbeth, while even more creatively distort Hamlet—but others are universally glee- or groan-worthy. Though the plot is chaotic, short chapters set a brisk pace, and all is resolved (and forgiven) by the end. As usual, the witches don’t always wield their wands effectively, but they can produce any necessary props from their clothing. The wordplay occasionally contains an explicit bit of wisdom (“Just because you don’t understand something doesn’t make it wrong”). Rust’s lively black-and-white illustrations reflect Covenly’s diversity, though the book doesn’t specify the characters’ specific races and ethnicities.
A playful addition to an entertaining and punny series. (caramel apples recipe) (Chapter book. 6-9)Pub Date: April 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781771476041
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
Charming.
An assortment of unusual characters form friendships and help each other become their best selves.
Mr. and Mrs. Tupper, who live at Number 3 Ramshorn Drive, are antiquarians. Their daughter, Jillian, loves and cares for a plant named Ivy, who has “three speckles on each leaf and three letters in her name.” Toasty, the grumpy goldfish, lives in an octagonal tank and wishes he were Jillian’s favorite; when Arthur the spider arrives inside an antique desk, he brings wisdom and insight. Ollie the violet plant, Louise the bee, and Sunny the canary each arrive with their own quirks and problems to solve. Each character has a distinct personality and perspective; sometimes they clash, but more often they learn to empathize, see each other’s points of view, and work to help one another. They also help the Tupper family with bills and a burglar. The Fan brothers’ soft-edged, old-fashioned, black-and-white illustrations depict Toasty and Arthur with tiny hats; Ivy and Ollie have facial expressions on their plant pots. The Tuppers have paper-white skin and dark hair. The story comes together like a recipe: Simple ingredients combine, transform, and rise into something wonderful. In its matter-of-fact wisdom, rich vocabulary (often defined within the text), hint of magic, and empathetic nonhuman characters who solve problems in creative ways, this delightful work is reminiscent of Ferris by Kate DiCamillo, Our Friend Hedgehog by Lauren Castillo, and Ivy Lost and Found by Cynthia Lord and Stephanie Graegin.
Charming. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781665942485
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
Models attention to detail and deductive reasoning in a fun beach setting, complete with interesting facts.
Beachcombers and shell seekers, gather ’round and meet Shelby and Watts, Planetary Investigators.
When Fred the hermit crab can’t find a new, larger shell to move into, he seeks out the “brilliant brains” of Shelby and Watts. Shelby, a fox, is the detective in the duo, and Watts, a badger, loves facts, adding simple fun ones—about hermit crabs, tides, tide-pool dwellers, how shells are used, etc.—throughout the story. Watts also loves to catalog clues in his notebook. In fact, the first mystery that Shelby solves is that of Watts’ lost notebook. Young readers can watch Shelby investigate, solve, and explain her deductive process, all while learning to carefully examine all the details in each graphic panel. Once the missing shells are found, it’s “time for the hermit crab shuffle,” in which the members of a colony of hermit crabs all line up and trade up to larger homes. Final pages include “Earth-Saving Tips from Shelby & Watts,” such as taking pictures of shells instead of collecting them, eating seafood from sustainable sources, and cleaning up the beach. The seven chapters are of varying length, but with several one-panel pages and many pages with low word count, the book is shorter than it appears, which should be a confidence boost for young readers. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Models attention to detail and deductive reasoning in a fun beach setting, complete with interesting facts. (Graphic early reader/mystery. 6-9)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-20531-0
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
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