A charming dog’s tale sure to reward curious readers.
A magical thrift store blanket turns an 8-year-old boy into a dog.
While Felix Powell and his grandmother Nan are exploring Birdie’s Thrift Shop, a well-worn blanket catches his eye. Though Nan points out that it’s summer in Louisiana—hardly blanket weather—he’s certain that it’s something special. At home, Felix tries to unlock the blanket’s power. Can it make him fly? Is it an invisibility cloak? As Felix has a backyard picnic with his dog, Mary Puppins, with whom he can communicate, the two of them play a game: Can You Free Felix From the Blanket While He Holds On as Tight as He Can? When the blanket comes off, another dog stares back at Puppins—it’s Felix Powell, Boy Dog! While Felix discovers the joys of being a dog, he soon begins to worry: Will his grandmother, who adopted him after his mother couldn’t care for him, want him now that he’s a dog? Will he ever be a human again? Woven effectively into this whimsical story are animal facts and insights into how dogs perceive the world; animal lovers like Felix will be pleased. Kelly folds in lessons of empathy and compassion from Puppins and Gumbo, a haughty yet friendly stray cat. Short chapters feature simple but effective black-and-white illustrations that help move the plot forward. Felix has skin the white of the page. Final art not seen.
A charming dog’s tale sure to reward curious readers. (Fiction. 7-11)Pub Date: July 16, 2024
ISBN: 9780063337169
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the...
At a time when death has become an acceptable, even voguish subject in children's fiction, Natalie Babbitt comes through with a stylistic gem about living forever.
Protected Winnie, the ten-year-old heroine, is not immortal, but when she comes upon young Jesse Tuck drinking from a secret spring in her parents' woods, she finds herself involved with a family who, having innocently drunk the same water some 87 years earlier, haven't aged a moment since. Though the mood is delicate, there is no lack of action, with the Tucks (previously suspected of witchcraft) now pursued for kidnapping Winnie; Mae Tuck, the middle aged mother, striking and killing a stranger who is onto their secret and would sell the water; and Winnie taking Mae's place in prison so that the Tucks can get away before she is hanged from the neck until....? Though Babbitt makes the family a sad one, most of their reasons for discontent are circumstantial and there isn't a great deal of wisdom to be gleaned from their fate or Winnie's decision not to share it.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1975
ISBN: 0312369816
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1975
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