Einstein stated, “We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality.” These sentiments are echoed in Whitman’s Leaves of Grass poem “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” (1900), illustrated here with warm, nostalgic acrylic paintings. In his sun-, moon-, and star-filled bedroom, a young, space-obsessed boy dons a tie in preparation for hearing a “learn’d astronomer” speak at a local museum. In the first of several wordless spreads, his family approaches the imposing, columned building where the scholar’s lecture will be. But once inside the stuffy auditorium, the boy feels tired and sick and wanders off into the “mystical moist night-air” where he ambles silently beneath his beloved night sky. Endearing pencil sketches of celestial bodies, doodled by the illustrator’s sons, sneak into the design and further demonstrate the charm of idle musings that trump lifeless charts and diagrams any old day. Adults may appreciate this more than children, but it’s a lovely tribute to Whitman’s poem nonetheless. (Picture book. 8-10)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-689-86397-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2004
Aimed straight at proto-Goosebumps fans, this formulaic series opener pits two 9-year-olds against a great white shark with legs. Having lost his bike in a lake thanks to the latest hare-brained scheme of his impulsive cousin Henry, bookish Keats reluctantly agrees to finance a replacement by earning some money taking on odd jobs at a spooky local mansion. The prosaic task of weeding the garden quickly turns into an extended flight through a series of magical rooms after a shark monster rises out of the ground and gives chase. Dashing from one narrow squeak to the next, the lads encounter a kitchen with an invisible "sink," a giant vomiting bookworm in the library, a carpet pattern in the hall that (literally) bites and, most usefully, a magic wand that they get to keep (setting up future episodes) after spelling the monster away. Tilted points of view give the occasional illustrations more energy than the labored plot ever musters, and the characters rarely show even two dimensions. Fledgling readers will do better in the hands of Jim Benton’s Franny K. Stein series or Bruce and Katherine Coville’s Moongobble and Me books. (Horror. 8-10)
Pub Date: April 26, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-375-86675-3
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2011
More side-splitting, nose-holding heroics…in the face of a still-rising tide of monsters.
Fourth-grade monster hunters Carlos and Benny face their greatest, or at least smelliest, challenge yet.
What with “funky wet-cat-with-gas” odors coming out of the ventilators and a rash of students and faculty raving scarily before falling into comas, Monterrosa Elementary is on the verge of being shut down. Previous experiences with cannibalistic lunch ladies and other supernatural hazards have left Latino narrator Carlos and his white best friend, Benny, poised to deal with the ghosts or whatever else is plaguing the school…but the dog-sized, lion-headed stinging scorpions they find lurking in the mechanical room turn out to be only the beginning of their problems. Hale adds new student Esme Ygorre (white and a descendant of a renowned monster expert who spelled his name slightly differently) to the already notably diverse cast, livens up the narrative with one-liners and vivid similes (“Her face went as grim as an all-kale buffet”), and ups the stakes considerably with an entire army of chimerical horrors created by (natch) a billionaire villain. A spritz of cola and a little—OK, a lot of—catnip finally bring down scorp-lions and villain alike, but more monsters on the loose promise further sequels. A lenticular cover image adds melodrama to the light assortment of droll pen-and-ink drawings inside.
More side-splitting, nose-holding heroics…in the face of a still-rising tide of monsters. (Horror. 8-10)Pub Date: Oct. 31, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4847-1323-5
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2017
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