A colorful fantasy with wondrous characters in a strange land.
Wakefield’s middle-grade novel draws readers into a lively world filled with strange creatures.
Alby is a stray cat adopted by Professor Wizoom, a scientist/inventor. Wizoom is building a special portal because he had a dream of himself “opening a triangular door…consumed by light as I walked through.” He’s unsure of where the door will lead but feels compelled to build it. He heads off to bed before running his final test, and Alby follows. The next morning, the feline awakens and finds Professor Wizoom gone. “Where did Wizoom go and where is my breakfast?” Alby wonders. Hours later, the triangular doorsparksand opens. Alby hears a faint voice calling: “Please help them….Find your courage.” Alby passes through the portal and enters the world of Jumbalot, which has “glimmering grass spotted with multicolored flowers… spiral-shaped mountains…like corkscrews.” He encounters amazing creatures, including some that combine elements of two or three animals, such as the evil “Shorkin” with a shark’s head, lizardlike body, and humanlike upper torso; the beast is one of “Rozer’s raiders.” Alby befriends Fremmy, a “froguar,” and together they head to Kingdom of Jowla to find the professor and return home. In Jowla, they meet Queen Lola and see Rozer, a “wolvaraptor rex,” attacking the kingdom in retaliation for Queen Lola’s father destroying Rozer’s home, Wolvoon. Wakefield has created a fantastic fictional world in a story that centers on the “Gem of Jumbalot,” which gives strength and power to Queen Lola, and which Rozer desires. The conflict leads to an epic battle to restore Jumbalot to its glory. Wakefield’s creativity is sure to delight young readers, as he provides vivid, detailed imagery; Jumbalot, for instance, has “an immense pearlescent pyramid” with a gold-plated dome and buildings “painted with gleaming, bright-colored symbols.” His inventiveness continues in his black-and-white chapter illustrations depicting fantastic creatures of his fictional realm.
A colorful fantasy with wondrous characters in a strange land.Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2021
ISBN: 979-8553853532
Page Count: 200
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the...
At a time when death has become an acceptable, even voguish subject in children's fiction, Natalie Babbitt comes through with a stylistic gem about living forever.
Protected Winnie, the ten-year-old heroine, is not immortal, but when she comes upon young Jesse Tuck drinking from a secret spring in her parents' woods, she finds herself involved with a family who, having innocently drunk the same water some 87 years earlier, haven't aged a moment since. Though the mood is delicate, there is no lack of action, with the Tucks (previously suspected of witchcraft) now pursued for kidnapping Winnie; Mae Tuck, the middle aged mother, striking and killing a stranger who is onto their secret and would sell the water; and Winnie taking Mae's place in prison so that the Tucks can get away before she is hanged from the neck until....? Though Babbitt makes the family a sad one, most of their reasons for discontent are circumstantial and there isn't a great deal of wisdom to be gleaned from their fate or Winnie's decision not to share it.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1975
ISBN: 0312369816
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1975
With plenty left to be resolved, the next entry will be eagerly sought after.
Drake has been selected by the king to serve as a Dragon Master, quite a change for an 8-year-old farmer boy.
The dragons are a secret, and the reason King Roland has them is a mystery, but what is clear is that the Dragon Stone has identified Drake as one of the rare few children who have a special connection with dragons and the ability to serve as a trainer. Drake’s dragon is a long brown creature with, at first, no particular talents that Drake can identify. He calls the dragon Worm. It isn’t long before Drake begins to realize he has a very strong connection with Worm and can share what seem to be his dragon’s thoughts. After one of the other Dragon Masters decides to illicitly take the dragons outside, disaster strikes. The cave they are passing through collapses, blocking the passageway, and then Worm’s special talent becomes evident. The first of a new series of early chapter books, this entry is sure to attract fans. Brief chapters, large print, lots of action, attractive illustrations in every spread, including a maplike panorama, an enviable protagonist—who wouldn’t want to be a Dragon Master?—all combine to make an entertaining read.
With plenty left to be resolved, the next entry will be eagerly sought after. (Fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-64624-6
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Branches/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
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