A marvelous heroic journey in miniature.
Can losing the life they knew turn out well for a pair of mice?
When mouse siblings Violet and Jobie are trapped and rehomed from their comfortable human habitat to the state park (“It’s like paradise for them,” says the human mom, reassuring her son), they are completely out of their element. The pair are slightly acquainted with the outside world, having seen some episodes of Nature Magnificent when the human family watched television. Fortunately, older, wiser mouse Zolian offers key advice and expands their appreciation of the wild world with a sense of fun. Newly aware of dangers they had never before faced, Violet is overwhelmed until Zolian offers some perspective: “There’s always an owl,” he says, “but there are ways to live so that you’re not always afraid of the owl.” As with all good survival stories, the mice learn by trial and error and by paying attention to their environment. There’s the sourcing of food, recognizing dangers, and beginning to find connection and pleasure in what is now home. Perkins handles her unique blend of mouseness and anthropomorphism well, occasionally addressing readers with humor. Her art throughout is filled with lighthearted depictions of expressive mice. By the time Violet is carried off on an adventure all her own, the gentle lesson and expectation have been conveyed: Change is the norm, going “home” is an internal rather than external journey, and cherished connections may be impermanent yet nevertheless lasting.
A marvelous heroic journey in miniature. (Animal fantasy. 7-11)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-249969-1
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
We challenge anyone to read this and keep a straight face.
Four misunderstood villains endeavor to turn over a new leaf…or a new rap sheet in Blabey's frenzied romp.
As readers open the first page of this early chapter book, Mr. Wolf is right there to greet them, bemoaning his reputation. "Just because I've got BIG POINTY TEETH and RAZOR-SHARP CLAWS and I occasionally like to dress up like an OLD LADY, that doesn't mean… / … I'm a BAD GUY." To prove this very fact, Mr. Wolf enlists three equally slandered friends into the Good Guys Club: Mr. Snake (aka the Chicken Swallower), Mr. Piranha (aka the Butt Biter), and Mr. Shark (aka Jaws). After some convincing from Mr. Wolf, the foursome sets off determined to un-smirch their names (and reluctantly curbing their appetites). Although these predators find that not everyone is ready to be at the receiving end of their helpful efforts, they use all their Bad Guy know-how to manage a few hilarious good deeds. Blabey has hit the proverbial nail on the head, kissed it full on the mouth, and handed it a stick of Acme dynamite. With illustrations that startle in their manic comedy and deadpan direct address and with a narrative that follows four endearingly sardonic characters trying to push past (sometimes successfully) their fear-causing natures, this book instantly joins the classic ranks of Captain Underpants and The Stinky Cheese Man.
We challenge anyone to read this and keep a straight face. (Fiction. 7-11)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-91240-2
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dizzyingly silly.
The famous superhero returns to fight another villain with all the trademark wit and humor the series is known for.
Despite the title, Captain Underpants is bizarrely absent from most of this adventure. His school-age companions, George and Harold, maintain most of the spotlight. The creative chums fool around with time travel and several wacky inventions before coming upon the evil Turbo Toilet 2000, making its return for vengeance after sitting out a few of the previous books. When the good Captain shows up to save the day, he brings with him dynamic action and wordplay that meet the series’ standards. The Captain Underpants saga maintains its charm even into this, the 11th volume. The epic is filled to the brim with sight gags, toilet humor, flip-o-ramas and anarchic glee. Holding all this nonsense together is the author’s good-natured sense of harmless fun. The humor is never gross or over-the-top, just loud and innocuous. Adults may roll their eyes here and there, but youngsters will eat this up just as quickly as they devoured every other Underpants episode.
Dizzyingly silly. (Humor. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-50490-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
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