Pleasing entertainment laced with insightful lessons.
Another mystery—this one close to home!
Abbi Wallace habitually records animal noises, and her mother recently gave her a special microphone that can detect high-pitched bat noises and make them audible to humans. But one October evening, the old elevator at the Maine castle where they live is broken. Abbi, who now uses a wheelchair due to spinal muscular atrophy, can’t get up the stairs anymore, so she has to instruct her friends Lydia and Daniel Herrera on how to set up the equipment via walkie-talkies. Later, the sound app on Abbi’s phone makes a screeching noise even more shrill than a whistling teakettle! Abbi’s mother teases that it’s probably the ghost of the castle’s builder. Lydia becomes frightened at the possibility. To appease Lydia’s fears, Abbi uses a tablet with a camera to digitally supervise her friends through an auditory search of the house for the source of the noise. Abbi has a hunch, and the next day, they call a park ranger for help. This second series installment gets more personal, addressing Abbi’s needs and wants as a wheelchair user, and when Abbi voices her frustration about her lack of access to parts of the castle, her mom is quick to find solutions. The mystery itself is more straightforward but more immediately significant as it takes place in Abbi’s home, with great use of technology throughout as the kids—and readers—learn more about bats. Burgett’s illustrations continue to delight. Abbi and her mother present white, while Lydia and Daniel are cued Latine.
Pleasing entertainment laced with insightful lessons. (bat facts) (Mystery. 7-11)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9780593489024
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
We challenge anyone to read this and keep a straight face.
Four misunderstood villains endeavor to turn over a new leaf…or a new rap sheet in Blabey's frenzied romp.
As readers open the first page of this early chapter book, Mr. Wolf is right there to greet them, bemoaning his reputation. "Just because I've got BIG POINTY TEETH and RAZOR-SHARP CLAWS and I occasionally like to dress up like an OLD LADY, that doesn't mean… / … I'm a BAD GUY." To prove this very fact, Mr. Wolf enlists three equally slandered friends into the Good Guys Club: Mr. Snake (aka the Chicken Swallower), Mr. Piranha (aka the Butt Biter), and Mr. Shark (aka Jaws). After some convincing from Mr. Wolf, the foursome sets off determined to un-smirch their names (and reluctantly curbing their appetites). Although these predators find that not everyone is ready to be at the receiving end of their helpful efforts, they use all their Bad Guy know-how to manage a few hilarious good deeds. Blabey has hit the proverbial nail on the head, kissed it full on the mouth, and handed it a stick of Acme dynamite. With illustrations that startle in their manic comedy and deadpan direct address and with a narrative that follows four endearingly sardonic characters trying to push past (sometimes successfully) their fear-causing natures, this book instantly joins the classic ranks of Captain Underpants and The Stinky Cheese Man.
We challenge anyone to read this and keep a straight face. (Fiction. 7-11)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-91240-2
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Lively fun with animal friends.
Has Plum’s pep deserted him?
Several animals from the Athensville Zoo are on their way to visit an elementary school. Overconfident Itch the ningbing (an Australian marsupial), unaware that zookeeper Lizzie will be doing all the talking, looks forward to “lecturing eager young minds.” Plum, the usually chipper peacock, on the other hand, is anxious—maybe the schoolchildren won’t like him or he’ll get lost. So when they arrive at the school to find the students have been sent home due to a blizzard, Plum is relieved. The animals are left in a school gym for the night until three self-important class mice free them. Itch heads for the library to meet the learned turtle, but Plum reluctantly explores with his friends. When his anxiety peaks, they reassure him, and when the mice reject Meg, another peacock, as “borrrring” and uncool, they buoy her as well before everyone comes together to save Itch, who finds himself outside and stranded in a snowdrift. Unlike Leave It to Plum (2022), this is not a mystery, and the relationship focus shifts from Lizzie to the rodents, but the pace is brisk, and sequel seekers will be pleased to revisit familiar characters (if dismayed that Itch’s longing for knowledge leads to his downfall). In Phelan’s engaging grayscale pen-and-wash illustrations, Lizzie has short curly hair; text and art cue her as Latine.
Lively fun with animal friends. (how to draw Plum) (Chapter book. 7-10)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-06-307920-5
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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