Even funnier and sweeter than its predecessor.
A Viking helps his girlfriend achieve a goal.
This tale focuses on Stig’s girlfriend, Ingrid, introduced in Cenko’s Viking in Love (2021), who wants to enter the Strongest Viking Contest to fulfill a childhood dream. The only problem? Swimming is a required part of the competition, but Ingrid can’t so much as doggy paddle. Stig convinces her to enter anyway, and she begins a rigorous training schedule, with Stig assisting each step of the way. By the day of the contest, however, she still hasn’t mastered swimming. Though the other Vikings tower over Ingrid, she easily excels at feats of strengths—as well as “Patting Your Head While Rubbing Your Belly and Then Switching Really Fast” and the “Running of the Kittens!” To complete the swimming portion of the contest, Ingrid brings along a flotation device—and so have the other Vikings. When the others get tangled up in a “floatie jam,” Ingrid’s ingenuity saves the day. Throughout, Stig and the couple’s adorably funny kittens cheer on Ingrid. Illustrations are packed with cues that reinforce children’s visual intelligence and will prompt big laughs. Themes of persevering despite the odds and supporting a loved one are valuable reminders for readers of all ages. Fans of Viking in Love will see that Stig has finally become comfortable in the water himself, his fear of water being the central conflict when he was trying to woo Ingrid. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Even funnier and sweeter than its predecessor. (Picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: July 25, 2023
ISBN: 9780593202326
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Only for dedicated fans of the series.
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster.
“I spot my monster right away. / He’s practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won’t be scared anymore!” The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green–striped tail. The kid employs a “bag of tricks” to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he “rips a massive FART!!” that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster’s house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton’s bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace’s limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off.
Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, if oft-told, story.
A plush toy rabbit bonds with a boy and watches him grow into adulthood.
The boy receives the blue bunny for his birthday and immediately becomes attached to it. Unbeknownst to him, the ungendered bunny is sentient; it engages in dialogue with fellow toys, giving readers insight into its thoughts. The bunny's goal is to have grand adventures when the boy grows up and no longer needs its company. The boy spends many years playing imaginatively with the bunny, holding it close during both joyous and sorrowful times and taking it along on family trips. As a young man, he marries, starts a family, and hands over the beloved toy to his toddler-aged child in a crib. The bunny's epiphany—that he does not need to wait for great adventures since all his dreams have already come true in the boy's company—is explicitly stated in the lengthy text, which is in many ways similar to The Velveteen Rabbit (1922). The illustrations, which look hand-painted but were digitally created, are moderately sentimental with an impressionistic dreaminess (one illustration even includes a bunny-shaped cloud in the sky) and a warm glow throughout. The depiction of a teenage male openly displaying his emotions—hugging his beloved childhood toy for example—is refreshing. All human characters present as White expect for one of the boy’s friends who is Black.
A sweet, if oft-told, story. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72825-448-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2022
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