A summertime visit to the countryside with people who are fun to share time with. What could be better? (Fiction. 6-10)
Newly relocated to a run-down seaside farm, brothers (and best friends) Cyrus and Rudy face big changes.
Although Cyrus, 9, and Rudy, 8, have some serious reservations about leaving the city, the move they tried hard to prevent in Not for Sale (2015), there are ample new and interesting aspects of rural life to distract them. Most important of these are their colorful new neighbors, Rachel (who is clothed entirely in a different primary color each day) and her grandparents, and a depressed donkey, Rumpley, that unexpectedly came with the house. For Rudy, some of the fun comes in the form of an old thesaurus that gives him the opportunity to spout amusing synonyms. Cyrus takes the donkey on as his personal project. Rumpley hasn’t enjoyed life since his old master died two years ago, but Cyrus is determined to make up for that. The donkey’s loyal payback eventually plays a critical role in an exciting (if a bit improbable) climax when Cyrus accidentally gets stranded on a rock during a rising tide. Flook’s cartoon illustrations enhance the simple, amusing text that is peopled with warm, engaging characters (all of them apparently white) and a gently nuanced animal relationship. Short chapters and a limited vocabulary make this a fine choice for emerging readers.
A summertime visit to the countryside with people who are fun to share time with. What could be better? (Fiction. 6-10)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4598-1228-4
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.
A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
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