Grinch-weary readers in particular may be smurfertained.
Six wintry smurfisodes making their first appearances on this side of the Atlantic feature the usual cast of blue-skinned gnomes and their hapless nemesis, Gargamel.
A story of one Christmas Eve that Gargamel nearly ruins by hijacking Santa’s sleigh and another in which he actually receives some gifts bookend the collection. In between, Papa Smurf uses a book of Nostrasmurfus prophecies to trick an illiterate troll; animate snowpeople inadvertently lead Gargamel to the Smurfs’ village but then save it; Lazy Smurf nods off with a hibernating dormouse, both of whom are rescued from a hunter; and Lumberjack Smurf battles a dragon to save an elf who has been turned into a talking Christmas tree. Even young eyes may strain to make out the small, if bright blue, figures and cramped lines of dialogue in the sequential panels. Furthermore, not only does Gargamel come in for a wince-worthy amount of physical and emotional abuse, but Papa Smurf ends up burning his book. Still, the tales have at least nostalgic value, and the plots are not only lickety-split but well-supplied with altered but recognizable holiday songs (“Santa Claus is smurfing to town…”) and other quips.
Grinch-weary readers in particular may be smurfertained. (Graphic stories. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-59707-452-0
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Papercutz
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
A hamster with an irritating lack of social skills fails to alienate a cast of small woodland creatures in this strange import. Looking more like an undersized koala in Martin’s simply drawn scenes, Hamster opens with a wish that “in the heavens and on earth [a]ll will praise an extraordinary hamster,” then goes on to explain in his diary how much everyone adores him, to disinvite Rabbit to his birthday party, to blow off a shy confession from Mole and so on—until at the culminating party he takes a bow after belittling everyone’s gifts. Meanwhile, the animals gather to mull such Big Questions as whether worms can shed tears of joy. Within each of her large sequential panels, the illustrator surrounds small figures with generous quantities of flat, uniformly colored green ground and blue sky, punctuated by the occasional tree or shrub. All that wide-open space focuses attention on the dialogue, which sometimes offers insights into the character of each member of the cast but too often falls flat: “Squirrel…a nut. Just one? Hmmm, not so great, so let’s just forget about it.” Yes, let’s. (Graphic picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: July 20, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59270-093-6
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The dream phantasms of a high-spirited narrator intersect, even crowd, reality, but the stream-of-consciousness text makes for a rambling, radically personal tale. Playful images of a stuffed lion, trampoline, purple shoes, and a cat named Pine-Cone take hold in a young girl’s imagination, despite her “old” mother who makes her go to bed when she’d rather “stay up early” and a big sister with a cranky disposition. At home, she likes counting flea bites and pretending to be a worm, but is afraid of the dark and going to Grade One. The second half of the book takes off in a separate first-day-of school direction. Wild dreams precede the big day, which includes bullies on the playground and instant friend Chelsea. The childlike articulations of the text are endearing, but not quite of universal interest, and don’t add up to a compelling story; children may more readily warm to Gay’s illustrations, which include a dreamlike flying cat, a menacing hot dog, and an uproarious stuffed toy looming over everyday domestic scenes. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: Feb. 15, 1999
ISBN: 1-55143-107-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
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