At the close of Justice and Her Brothers (1978), four youngsters sat, hands clasped, poised for their first venture as the psychically powerful First Unit, harbinger of a race to come. This is the story of their second trip, to a desolate future Dustland where the air is filled with dead creatures turned to dust. Justice, the most gifted of the four, goes with a sense of mission, though what the mission is she herself doesn't seem to know. Brother Thomas, expert illusionist and the Edmund of the group, resents her power and hates the visits to Dustland; and when Justice tames a dog-like creature who picks up their language and calls Justice Master, the other two—sickly brother Levy and neighbor Dorion, the Healer—wonder in passing if they too are her slaves. Besides the devoted "dog," Miacus, Justice communicates (less well) with one of a group of winged, three-legged humans (we must take Justice's word for it that they are human) whose Quest is for a way out of Dustland. In Dustland and on return, the four speculate on the mechanics of their situation: Can we be hurt in the future? If we're here without bodies, why the pain and blisters? Did our minds really go there, or was the trip inside our heads? But the ideas develop slowly, and not much else develops at all. (Desperate "t' beings" who try to snatch and detain the four during the Crossover home, and a shapeless Mal[evolence] that Swoops down on them on the road back home, don't grow beyond their obvious identity as overworked elements from the juvenile science fantasy tradition.) We leave Dustland still waiting for the trilogy to shape up as a story, and to reveal itself as the serious vision that seems to be promised.
Pub Date: April 21, 1980
ISBN: 0590362178
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1980
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A nice but not requisite purchase.
A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.
Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.
A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7915-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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