Silly thrills about the power of self and friendship.
Stitch Head, a being cooked up in a laboratory by a mad scientist, continues his journey out of the shadows of Castle Grotteskew.
While reluctantly rehearsing with the castle’s drama society under the direction of the Creature (another of Mad Professor Erasmus’ creations), Stitch Head is startled by a disembodied voice only he can hear, calling his name. While searching for the voice’s source, Stitch Head is startled when a human face appears from the shadows, demanding Stitch Head give an unknown thing back. Hearing the description of the ghost, the usually brave Arabella (a human girl) tells Stitch Head he must leave the castle to escape the horrifying ghost of Mawley Crackbone. Upon speaking Mawley’s name, Stitch Head is pulled through the walls into unknown depths of the castle. Mawley reveals that he is the source of Stitch Head’s heart. The protagonist’s fragile sense of self is shaken when he questions if the heart of a wicked man means he is wicked. A quick pace is set from the prologue, where readers learn that Mawley was murdered to end his evil reign over the village of Grubbers Nubbin, and doesn’t let up until the end. Stitch Head’s emotional growth continues as he confronts strong feelings, helped by his friends. These more poignant scenes are balanced with moments of humor and whimsy: the Creature’s melodramatic speech patterns, the play the castle residents are staging, and detailed black-and-white illustrations of Grotteskew’s strange inhabitants. Human characters are generally pale-skinned.
Silly thrills about the power of self and friendship. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2023
ISBN: 9781664340688
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
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
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.
A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
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