A tidy resolution achieved through courage and sturdy values.
In this trilogy closer, an unnatural alliance between the predatory Carrion Kingdom and the armored plant eaters of the Prairie Alliance forces the herbivorous residents of the Mountain Kingdom into a desperate last stand.
Recapping the protagonists’ earlier exploits as she goes, Melki-Wegner brings her all-dinosaur cast back together for a furious (if nearly bloodless) climactic battle. Eleri, the gracile Oryctodromeus exile, and the rest of her multispecies Grotto herd reach the beleaguered Mountain Kingdom just in time to face not only a massive army of invaders but also treachery from supposed allies. Though the author is far too dependent on convenient magical gimmickry to keep things moving—inflammable rocks, two kinds of toxic plants—readers willing to roll with the contrivances (and to picture dinosaurs who talk like this: “There’s a whole Army of Beasts about to come chargin’ into this vale, and we ain’t got a plan to stop ’em”) will be rewarded with an engrossing whirl of fights, sallies, ambushes and betrayals, narrow squeaks, and courageous exploits, all leading to a climax that plays out against a massive conflagration and an even more massive flood. Through it all, the Grotto herd’s steadfast trust in each other provides a steady anchor, and the battle’s decisive outcome ultimately hinges on personal loyalties and steadfast adherence to noble principles.
A tidy resolution achieved through courage and sturdy values. (map, species list) (Adventure. 9-12)Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781250827739
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
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Series fans, at least, will take this outing (and clear evidence of more to come) in stride.
Zipping back and forth in time atop outsized robo–bell bottoms, mad inventor Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) legs his way to center stage in this slightly less-labored continuation of episode 9.
The action commences after a rambling recap and a warning not to laugh or smile on pain of being forced to read Sarah Plain and Tall. Pilkey first sends his peevish protagonist back a short while to save the Earth (destroyed in the previous episode), then on to various prehistoric eras in pursuit of George, Harold and the Captain. It’s all pretty much an excuse for many butt jokes, dashes of off-color humor (“Tippy pressed the button on his Freezy-Beam 4000, causing it to rise from the depths of his Robo-Pants”), a lengthy wordless comic and two tussles in “Flip-o-rama.” Still, the chase kicks off an ice age, the extinction of the dinosaurs and the Big Bang (here the Big “Ka-Bloosh!”). It ends with a harrowing glimpse of what George and Harold would become if they decided to go straight. The author also chucks in a poopy-doo-doo song with musical notation (credited to Albert P. Einstein) and plenty of ink-and-wash cartoon illustrations to crank up the ongoing frenzy.
Series fans, at least, will take this outing (and clear evidence of more to come) in stride. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-17536-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
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