One Cool Friend

Booklist (January 1, 2012 (Vol. 108, No. 9))


Grades K-3. Polite, bow-tie-and-suit-wearing Elliot is none too excited when his father suggests attending Family Fun Day at the aquarium. But once he is there, he is drawn to the Magellanic penguins, whose tidy black feather tuxedos with their proper posture remind Elliot of himself. So he decides to sneak one home in his backpack, under his father’s seemingly oblivious eye. Once home, Elliot and his new penguin pal dine on frozen anchovy pizzas, share Goldfish crackers, and skate on a mini ice rink in his room (created with a wading pool and hose)—all the while his father is blithely engaged with his atlas, maps, and charts and appears not to notice the goings-on. Small’s black-and-white line illustrations with pops of soft color are an artful blend of elegance, wit, and whimsy. They echo and complement the text and depict expressive characters, including the playful penguin. This charming picture book has many humorous details throughout, and kids will likely laugh out loud at the surprise ending—particularly for the father!

Calli Be Gold

Booklist (March 15, 2011 (Vol. 107, No. 14))


Grades 4-6. Calli Gold hasn’t yet found what her father calls her passion. Her brother is a star basketball player, and her sister attends endless skate-team practices, but Calli is less worried about this void than her parents are. A wise 11-year-old, she also perceives that her sister isn’t happy on the ice and that her father is overly involved in her brother’s games. Hurwitz’s engaging debut charts how Calli makes her family see an alternative to the rush-rush lifestyle they lead. The author has created an appealing narrator, who’s quiet, observant, and stuck in a family of louds. Calli quotes the exasperating things her parents say as they prod her through the family’s busy schedule and promote her involvement in one area or another. At the same time, she is drawn to help a second-grade boy who needs a good friend. Hurwitz nicely conveys the sense that it’s OK for reserved Calli to be loud sometimes—with outbursts that she didn’t plan and behavior she didn’t expect—and that families can be enriched by their younger members’ ideas.

Benjamin Franklinstein Meets the Fright Brothers

Kirkus Review (August 1, 2011)


Renowned inventors square off in a battle for modern Philadelphia in this daffy sequel to Benjamin Franklinstein Lives! (2010). Reanimated in the previous episode after centuries of suspended animation, genial Ben and his two young Karloff Street cohorts-serious minded Victor Godwin (son of Mary) and his deceptively idiotic buddy Scott-must swing back into action. They find themselves johnnies on the spot when a wave of giant-bat sightings is followed by one city official after another suddenly acquiring spots on their necks, glowing eyes and robotlike behavior. Checking out strange doings at the just-opened "Right Cycle Company," the investigators find two likewise reanimated gents in antique clothing engaged in turning bicycle parts into a huge flying machine designed to finish the job and take over the city at the behest of a shadowy "Emperor." Enhanced by frequent charts, diagrams, lists and other visual aids, a spirit of rational (if often reckless) scientific inquiry pervades the tale, as Ben and his allies translate coded messages, analyze evidence, get a lesson in meteorology and conduct experiments using both real and science-fictional gear on the way to a literally electrifying climax. The Emperor's identity is revealed at the end but as he remains at large, expect further sequels. The authors have way too much fun taking the opener's premise and evil conspiracy to the next level. Readers will too. (Sci-fantasy. 10-12)

The One and Only Ivan

Kirkus Review starred (October 15, 2011)


How Ivan confronts his harrowing past yet stays true to his nature exemplifies everything youngsters need to know about courage. Living in a "domain" of glass, metal and cement at the Big Top Mall, Ivan sometimes forgets whether to act like a gorilla or a human--except Ivan does not think much of humans. He describes their behavior as frantic, whereas he is a peaceful artist. Fittingly, Ivan narrates his tale in short, image-rich sentences and acute, sometimes humorous, observations that are all the more heartbreaking for their simple delivery. His sorrow is palpable, but he stoically endures the cruelty of humans until Ruby the baby elephant is abused. In a pivotal scene, Ivan finally admits his domain is a cage, and, rather than let Ruby live and die in grim circumstances, he promises to save her. In order to express his plea in a painting, Ivan must bravely face buried memories of the lush jungle, his family and their brutal murder, which is recounted in a brief, powerful chapter sure to arouse readers' passions. In a compelling ending, the more challenging question Applegate poses is whether or not Ivan will remember what it was like to be a gorilla. Spot art captures poignant moments throughout. Utterly believable, this bittersweet story, complete with an author's note identifying the real Ivan, will inspire a new generation of advocates. (author's note) (Fiction. 8-12)

Can You Survive the Titanic? An Interactive Survival Adventure

School Library Journal (December 1, 2011)


Gr 3-5-In this entertaining blend of fiction and nonfiction, readers have the choice of a voyage on the Titanic as a boy, a maid, or a ship's officer. In Storm Chasing, they get to decide if they'd rather face a hurricane, tornado, or flash flood. Each story path has many choices and a plethora of endings-and not all are happy. These are fast reads that will have students turning the pages back and forth until they think they've reached every permutation possible. The photos are bright, vivid, and exciting, and the books are graphically appealing.-Esther Keller, I.S. 278, Marine Park, NY (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Happy Birthday Hamster

Publishers Weekly (June 27, 2011)


It's Hamster's birthday, but his best friend Dog seems to have forgotten. Hamster accompanies him on errands, including stopping at a bakery, as well as toy and party stores. At each stop, the hefty bulldog pretends to shop for himself, but is actually in cahoots with three mice keeping tabs on what Hamster wants. Lord uses a rhyme scheme similar to that in Hot Rod Hamster to describe the items in each store: "Spin toys, glow toys, wind it up and go toys./ Soft toys, hard toys, ride it through the yard toys. Which would you choose?" Just as Hamster becomes despondent, his friends greet him with a lively celebration. Those who miss the clues the first time, should enjoy being privy to them upon rereading. Ages 2-6. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Titanic Voices From the Disaster

Kirkus Review starred (January 1, 2012)


In what's sure to be a definitive work commemorating the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, Hopkinson offers a well-researched and fascinating account of the disaster. On Monday, April 15th, 1912, the magnificent Titanic sank after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic. Of the 2,208 people on board, only 712 survived. It's a well-known story, though maybe not to young readers, who, if anything, might have seen the movie. Hopkinson orchestrates a wealth of material here, using a third-person narrative voice to tell the story while incorporating eyewitness accounts of people on the "most luxurious ship the world had ever seen." A huge number of archival photographs and reproductions of telegrams, maps, letters, illustrations, sidebars and even a dinner menu complement the text, yielding a volume as interesting for browsing as for through-reading. The voices include a stewardess, a science teacher, a 9-year-old boy, the ship's designer, the captain and a mother on her way to a new life in America. Best of all is the author's spirit: She encourages readers to think like historians and wonder what it would have been like on the Titanic and imagine each character's story. Fifty pages of backmatter will inform and guide readers who want to know even more. A thorough and absorbing recreation of the ill-fated voyage. (Nonfiction. 8-16)