A dreamy nighttime adventure capturing the wonder of the natural world.
In Knudsen’s debut illustrated chapter book, two curious cats go exploring in search of the full moon, which appears to have vanished.
Topper and his brother Lexington are typical young cats. They love to climb trees and chase lizards, and they are fascinated and distracted by the world around them in equal measure. One night, they become entranced by the full moon (“It made everything outside look magical”), so large in the sky that Topper seems almost able to touch it from his perch on a high branch. The two brothers wait for the moon to become full again, but find only darkness in its place—and then a big, round, red, planetlike thing. Disobeying their mother’s instructions not to venture beyond their yard, the brothers set off to search for the disappeared moon. Along the way, they encounter the mermaid Shellie and her dolphin friend. Shellie, too, is missing the full moon, under whose light her tail and seaweed will transform into legs and a dress, allowing her to dance. Braving the threat of coyotes, Lexington and Topper climb a nearby cliff to consult with an owl. The moon returns, and they learn about lunar eclipses. Knudsen narrates a straightforward tale, using age-appropriate language and dialogue. Topper and Lexington embody the quintessential playful curiosity of young cats and will appeal to children and adults alike. Their journey plays out moment-to-moment; the narrative is more languid than urgent, in keeping with the artistic focus and exploration of place. While there is quite a lot of text for young readers to work through, it is commensurate with the scope and detail of the Dewitts’ full-page illustrations. The dark palette and watercolor textures convey a striking sense of the world at night and often bleed through to the text pages, hinting at unseen spaces and larger landscapes. Perhaps the greatest strength of the Dewitts’ artwork lies in the backgrounds, as seen in an image of the night sky and clouded red moon with rippling waves and shadowy palm trees leaning in the distance; Topper and Lexington’s explorations come to life in no small part due to the richness of such settings.
A dreamy nighttime adventure capturing the wonder of the natural world.Pub Date: March 31, 2023
ISBN: 9781039144446
Page Count: 44
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Aug. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
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