Flat Stanley is back and better than ever. Pennypacker’s revival of this perennially popular character should engender great enthusiasm and may even create new fans for this old favorite. Broad humor, action-packed adventure and a tinge of sibling rivalry combine to create a brisk tale that will ably entertain young readers. A most felicitous use of language mimics (and oh-so-gently mocks) the ingenuous, gee-whiz tone of the original. The plot, naturally, is paper-thin but full of incidents that allow Stanley to use his unusual qualities to save the day. In this series starter, Stanley and his family visit Mount Rushmore, where he prevents a rockslide and rescues his brother and a new friend from a cave-in. His adventures continue in The Great Egyptian Grave Robbery (ISBN: 978-0-06-142993-4; paper 978-0-06-142992-7). The series focus on geography is an appealing nod to the oft-assigned school project that asks children to mail their own versions of Stanley to far-off friends. Although Pamintuan’s final illustrations were not seen, the sample sketches match the playful tone of the text. (Fiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-06-142991-0
Page Count: 96
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2009
A nifty high-seas caper for chapter-book readers with a love of adventure and a yearning for treasure.
It’s not truffles but doubloons that tickle this porcine wayfarer’s fancy.
Funke and Meyer make another foray into chapter-book fare after Emma and the Blue Genie (2014). Here, mariner Stout Sam and deckhand Pip eke out a comfortable existence on Butterfly Island ferrying cargo to and fro. Life is good, but it takes an unexpected turn when a barrel washes ashore containing a pig with a skull-and-crossbones pendant around her neck. It soon becomes clear that this little piggy, dubbed Julie, has the ability to sniff out treasure—lots of it—in the sea. The duo is pleased with her skills, but pride goeth before the hog. Stout Sam hands out some baubles to the local children, and his largess attracts the unwanted attention of Barracuda Bill and his nasty minions. Now they’ve pignapped Julie, and it’s up to the intrepid sailors to save the porker and their own bacon. The succinct word count meets the needs of kids looking for early adventure fare. The tale is slight, bouncy, and amusing, though Julie is never the piratical buccaneer the book’s cover seems to suggest. Meanwhile, Meyer’s cheery watercolors are as comfortable diagramming the different parts of a pirate vessel as they are rendering the dread pirate captain himself.
A nifty high-seas caper for chapter-book readers with a love of adventure and a yearning for treasure. (Adventure. 7-9)Pub Date: June 23, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-37544-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2015
Eeney meeney miney moe, catch this series before it goes! (Adventure. 7-9)
Two kids get up close and personal with some great works of art in this first in a new series.
Tiger Brooks is used to his little sister’s fantastical stories. So when the top-hatted orange pig she describes turns out to be not only real, but a next-door neighbor, Tiger enlists the help of his kooky new friend, Luna, to investigate. It turns out the pig works for the reclusive painter Viola Dots. Years ago a magical picture frame swallowed up her only son, and she’s searched for him in artworks ever since. When Tiger’s tinkering starts the magic up again, he and Luna are sucked into a reproduction of Henri Rousseau’s Surprised! or Tiger in a Tropical Storm, hungry predator and all. After meeting and failing to rescue Viola’s son in this adventure, the series is set up for the intrepid pair to infiltrate other classic paintings in the future. Backmatter provides information on the real Rousseau and his life. Oliver keeps the plot itself snappy and peppy. While there are few surprises, there’s also an impressive lack of lag time. This is helped in no small part by Kallis’ art, which goes from pen-and-ink drawings to full-blown color images once the kids cross over into the painting. Tiger is a white boy, and Luna is a dark-haired Latina.
Eeney meeney miney moe, catch this series before it goes! (Adventure. 7-9)Pub Date: April 26, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-448-48087-9
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
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