Stellar comedic timing and whimsy galore combine in this magical friendship story.
A humorous, magical romp about a modern-day apprentice witch who is struggling to be a good friend.
Effie, a young apprentice witch, is back in the sequel to Witches of Brooklyn (2020). In her first outing, Effie learned she was a witch and began figuring out her magical powers. Now Effie learns more about the caring witching community and helps them create a clever solution to a cursed neighborhood intersection. Effie also works through friendship woes, kicked off by the appearance of Garance, a new French girl at school. Is Garance the source of all Effie’s problems, or could she possibly be a part of the solution? At its heart a relationship story, this modern fantasy with a realistic setting is lighthearted and whimsical. Humor and emotion are conveyed through dialogue using a wide variety of typefaces. The comedic timing of sequential panels is especially strong, creating mini-episodes within larger chapters. The characters’ specificity, from their facial expressions to apparel, adds even more humor, and the witches are delightfully diverse in body shape, skin color, gender presentation, profession, and more. While this title works as a stand-alone, the story is much richer when experienced as a sequel. In the previous title, visual elements hinted at Effie’s Asian/White heritage. Garance is Black; Effie’s lesbian aunts read as White, and secondary characters represent the diversity of New York City.
Stellar comedic timing and whimsy galore combine in this magical friendship story. (Graphic fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12544-1
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Random House Graphic
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
A real gem.
A 10-year old girl learns to adjust to a strange town, makes some fascinating friends, and fills the empty space in her heart thanks to a big old stray dog in this lyrical, moving, and enchanting book by a fresh new voice.
India Opal’s mama left when she was only three, and her father, “the preacher,” is absorbed in his own loss and in the work of his new ministry at the Open-Arms Baptist Church of Naomi [Florida]. Enter Winn-Dixie, a dog who “looked like a big piece of old brown carpet that had been left out in the rain.” But, this dog had a grin “so big that it made him sneeze.” And, as Opal says, “It’s hard not to immediately fall in love with a dog who has a good sense of humor.” Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal meets Miss Franny Block, an elderly lady whose papa built her a library of her own when she was just a little girl and she’s been the librarian ever since. Then, there’s nearly blind Gloria Dump, who hangs the empty bottle wreckage of her past from the mistake tree in her back yard. And, Otis, oh yes, Otis, whose music charms the gerbils, rabbits, snakes and lizards he’s let out of their cages in the pet store. Brush strokes of magical realism elevate this beyond a simple story of friendship to a well-crafted tale of community and fellowship, of sweetness, sorrow and hope. And, it’s funny, too.
A real gem. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0776-2
Page Count: 182
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2000
SEEN & HEARD
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