As ad hoc parents go, Horton has nothing on Amos, a mild-mannered hippo with a bug problem who advertises for one tick bird and finds himself hosting a whole family. After don’t-call-us-we’ll-call-you interviews with a thrush and a vulture, Amos hires Kumba, an industrious but literal-minded tick bird who responds to his invitation to make herself at home by building a nest between his ears, and laying a clutch of eggs. Unlike Mayzie, Kumba and her chronically unemployed husband Akka do stick around for a while, but Amos ultimately finds himself in loco parentis to one querulous hatchling (“ ‘You sound just like your mother!’ ”), and even becoming (more or less) reconciled to having a nest on his head. That nest goes from tiny to invisible in Delaney’s sketchy line drawings, and the job interviews aren’t all that’s archly aimed over children’s heads here. All in all, it’s a promising premise that founders on trite jokes and an unimaginative plot, nor does it feature the vivid characters or naturalistic detail that bring such talking-animal tales as Shalant’s Bartleby of the Mighty Mississippi (2000), and, closer to thematic home, Hansen’s Caesar’s Antlers (1997) to life. (Fiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-399-23614-7
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Told from the point of view of two warring siblings, this could have been an engaging first chapter book. Unfortunately, the length makes it less likely to appeal to the intended audience. Jessie and Evan are usually good friends as well as sister and brother. But the news that bright Jessie will be skipping a grade to join Evan’s fourth-grade class creates tension. Evan believes himself to be less than clever; Jessie’s emotional maturity doesn’t quite measure up to her intelligence. Rivalry and misunderstandings grow as the two compete to earn the most money in the waning days of summer. The plot rolls along smoothly and readers will be able to both follow the action and feel superior to both main characters as their motivations and misconceptions are clearly displayed. Indeed, a bit more subtlety in characterization might have strengthened the book’s appeal. The final resolution is not entirely believable, but the emphasis on cooperation and understanding is clear. Earnest and potentially successful, but just misses the mark. (Fiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: April 23, 2007
ISBN: 0-618-75043-6
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The author of Babe, the Gallant Pig (1985) offers another winner with this tale of a bright pig and her canny young keeper “training” a spoiled princess. When Princess Penelope demands a pig for her eighth birthday, her over-indulgent father requires every pig keeper in the country to assemble with a likely porcine candidate. The princess settles on Lollipop, who turns out to be the sole possession of penniless orphan Johnny Skinner. As only Johnny can get Lollipop to sit, roll over, or poop outdoors, soon lad and pig are comfortably ensconced together in a royal stall—at least until the pig can be persuaded to respond to the Princess’s commands. It’s only the beginning of a meteoric rise for Johnny, and for Lollipop too, as the two conspire to teach the princess civilized manners, and end up great favorites of the entire royal family. Barton (Rattletrap Car, p. 504, etc.) captures Penelope’s fuming, bratty character perfectly in a generous array of line drawings, and gives Lollipop an expression of affectionate amusement that will win over readers as effortlessly as it wins over the princess and her parents. Move over, Wilbur. (Fiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: June 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7636-1269-3
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2001
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