This captivating fairy tale melds whimsy and faith; children will clamor to hear it read aloud.
A rambunctious little girl recruits three misfit dragons to solve the problems a castle faces each Jewish Sabbath in this children’s fantasy in verse.
An evil dragon once terrorized Castle Draconmere. The beast’s destruction was so unstoppable that the king asked Sir Benjamin to kill it, promising to give the castle to him in return. Sir Benjamin tricked the dragon with a sleep-inducing stew and slew it easily, and he, his wife, and their young daughter, Mindel, moved into the castle. But Castle Draconmere wasn’t ideal; every Sabbath, the family had to decide whether to leave the gate open or shut. Moving the gate would break the laws of the Sabbath itself. Leaving it open left them vulnerable to villains, because no guards could stay awake the duration of the night. Keeping it shut meant barring themselves from visitors. On top of this, the drafty castle blew out the candles early each Sabbath—and it’s forbidden to relight them. Finally, the pages of the sacred scrolls and books suddenly began to turn up wet and ruined with no clear culprit. Sir Benjamin warns Mindel that if they can’t find solutions to these problems, they must abandon Castle Draconmere. But Mindel desperately wants to stay. She stumbles upon three misfit dragons, each with traits that make them unsuitable for protecting anywhere but Castle Draconmere. Serpenfin was born with only fins and has trouble sleeping, making him the perfect guard for the moat. Pointilla is small, possessing the ability to shoot tiny, precise flames. She’s just the one to light the Sabbath candles. And Bibinfor yearns to watch over books, not jewels, creating the ultimate protector of the sacred tomes. Soon everyone has found a place and all is well—until the nasty dragon eels arrive. Debut author Michaels weaves an enchanting story that will enthrall young readers. Parents will delight in reading it aloud, finding an easy rhythm in the verse. Charming illustrations and carefully penned calligraphy add a visual element perfect for story time.
This captivating fairy tale melds whimsy and faith; children will clamor to hear it read aloud.Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-941067-00-0
Page Count: 194
Publisher: Alcabal Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 26, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
The seemingly ageless Seeger brings back his renowned giant for another go in a tuneful tale that, like the art, is a bit sketchy, but chockful of worthy messages. Faced with yearly floods and droughts since they’ve cut down all their trees, the townsfolk decide to build a dam—but the project is stymied by a boulder that is too huge to move. Call on Abiyoyo, suggests the granddaughter of the man with the magic wand, then just “Zoop Zoop” him away again. But the rock that Abiyoyo obligingly flings aside smashes the wand. How to avoid Abiyoyo’s destruction now? Sing the monster to sleep, then make it a peaceful, tree-planting member of the community, of course. Seeger sums it up in a postscript: “every community must learn to manage its giants.” Hays, who illustrated the original (1986), creates colorful, if unfinished-looking, scenes featuring a notably multicultural human cast and a towering Cubist fantasy of a giant. The song, based on a Xhosa lullaby, still has that hard-to-resist sing-along potential, and the themes of waging peace, collective action, and the benefits of sound ecological practices are presented in ways that children will both appreciate and enjoy. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83271-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
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