Max's Castle

Kirkus Review starred (August 15, 2011)


Banks and Kulikov's Max is back in his third escapade of wordplay. Billing it as a sequel to Max's Words (2006) and Max's Dragon (2008), this author/illustrator team again presents a clever tale that embodies the possibilities of a child's imagination. When Max finds something amazing in a box under his bed-wooden alphabet blocks-he uses them to start building a castle. His two older brothers get into the act, and, lo and behold, WALLS become HALLS, a MOAT becomes a BOAT, PIRATES become RAT PIES, and BATTLE becomes BABBLE as the boys move the blocks, rearrange letters and transform words into a full-blown castle scenario. That is, until the castle comes under siege by a BLACK CAT turned BLOCK CAT ("It must smell the rat pies," says Karl). Playful perspectives, vivid colors and animated action are brilliantly executed with details that require a second look, then a third. Kulikov takes readers back and forth from reality to fantasy using the alphabet blocks as a bridge in inspiring fashion. The "king called his knights to the round table. And for their loyal FEATS he organized a FEAST. From the castle TAPESTRY he made PASTRY. And from the PARAPETS he made TEA." This homage to the power of imagination one ingenious and entertaining game of wordplay. (Picture book. 5-8)

The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man

School Library Journal (August 1, 2011)


K-Gr 2-Awesome Man can smash through the time barrier, shoot positronic rays out of his eyeballs, and combat mutant Jell-O from Beyond the Stars. "But don't think it's nonstop fun and photons being Awesome Man. Sometimes it can be pretty hard.." When a superhero feels tired and angry, he can always head for the Fortress of Awesome, where Mom is waiting with cheese and crackers and chocolate milk. Chabon's first picture book discharges delectable language like "several billion kilojoules per nanosecond," "Professor Von Evil in his Antimatter Slimebot," and "thermo vulcanized protein-delivery orb." Things are more likely to skloosh and skarunch than not. Verbiage like this nudges the story into read-aloud territory, and children will be swooping around the room as they listen. But if they stop long enough to peek at the pages, they'll enjoy the way Parker kicks it up another notch with hyperkinetic, hypercolored comic-book action scenes. The depiction of a showdown between Awesome Man and his nemesis-the Flaming Eyeball-is priceless. Readers may notice that there's a moral peeking out from Awesome Man's cape, but they'll still grab this story in their "ginormous Awesome Power Grip" and not let go.-Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

The Little Red Pen

Horn Book (March/April, 2011)


Poor Little Red Pen -- she always has to do everything herself. The stack of papers to grade threatens to overtake her, and she calls for help from her friends who are hiding in the desk drawer: the stapler, scissors, pencil, eraser, pushpin, and highlighter. The excuses mount up, and Little Red Pen knows she will have to do all the work herself. While laboring, she becomes exhausted and falls into the Pit of No Return -- the trashcan. The lazy office supplies come up with a Rube Goldberg contraption in order to rescue her, complete with rulers, paper clips, a hamster, and enough plays on words to keep even the most jaded reader chortling. Stevens's humor-filled watercolors are busy and active, especially since each character is a familiar object with its own personality, facial and body expressions, color, and even typeface. Particularly memorable are the stapler, with amazing teeth and tired eyes; the lime-green highlighter's bushy hair; and the sassy Latina pushpin, Senorita Chincheta. A rollicking read-aloud, this is a book that begs to be turned into a class play, readers' theater, or puppet show. robin l. smith

The Fourth Stall

Booklist (February 15, 2011 (Vol. 107, No. 12))


Grades 4-7. Sixth-graders Mac and Vince have been running an advice and assistance service for fellow grade-school students since they were in kindergarten. Mac is a problem solver, Vince is a whiz at keeping track of the money and favors they earn, and both boys are avid Chicago Cubs fans. Their “office” is located in an underused school bathroom, hence this first novel’s title. The business takes a beating—and then so does the boys’ friendship—when an older kid applies muscle to the threats he has made to grade-schoolers who owe gambling debts. Rylander has created a cast of memorable and varied characters, replete with emotional as well as social lives. Mac narrates the convoluted tale with the arch flatness of a 1940s satire of the noir detective genre, so swallowing even the more preposterous coincidences is easy for the sake of the story’s fun. An excellent boy book that would do well in a father-son book discussion.

The Flint Heart

Kirkus Review starred (August 15, 2011)


A heart-shaped talisman created in the Stone Age brings terribly corrupting power to those who possess it, until 12-year-old Charles Jago manages to destroy it permanently. This magical adventure begins with the fashioning of a piece of flint into a charm for hardening hearts. A hard-hearted individual can rule his tribe in the Stone Age and, fast-forwarding to the early 20th century, become the leader in one's community, but at a cost to his good nature, family and friends. That's what happens first to Charles' father, then to an imp called a Jacky Toad and then to a badger. Happily and with help from his little sister, his dog, the king of Fairyland, a talking hot-water bottle and the all-knowing Zagabog, Charles wrests the stone away from each one in turn, with no harm done. After all, this is a fairy tale. Written by Eden Phillpotts and first published in 1910, this traditional story has been deftly abridged and brought up to date by the Patersons. They've preserved the faintly English narrative voice and humor, idiosyncratic characters, lively action, distinctive Dartmoor setting and even many of the words. The 21st-century version features thoughtful design and Rocco's digitally colored film-animation-style illustrations, including chapter-heads, full-page images and decorations throughout. A grand tale skillfully updated and tightened up, this should win the hearts of a new generation. (Fantasy. 8-12)

Won Ton

Booklist starred (February 1, 2011 (Vol. 107, No. 11))


Grades K-3. Although the subtitle says haiku, as Wardlaw explains in her opening author’s note, the poems that make up this picture-book celebration of the child-pet bond are actually written in similarly structured senryu, a form that focuses on personality and behavior instead of on the natural world, as haiku does. Here the central personality belongs to a feisty shelter cat who has never known cozy domestic life: “Nice place they got here. / Bed. Bowl. Blankie. Just like home. / Or so I’ve been told.” Then a boy arrives, scoops the cat from his cage, brings him home, and names him Won Ton (“How can I / be soup? Some day, I’ll tell you / my real name. Maybe”). Both the tightly constructed lines and elegant, playful illustrations unerringly imagine a cat’s world, including the characteristic feline seesaw between aloof independence and purring, kneading adoration. Like Bob Raczka’s Guyku (2010), this title shows that poetry can be fun, free, and immediate, even as it follows traditional structure; “The Car Ride,” for example, reads, “Letmeoutletme / outletmeoutletmeout. / Wait—let me back in!” Yelchin’s expressive graphite-and-gouache artwork nods to the poetic form’s roots with echoes of Japanese woodblock prints and creates a lovable, believable character in this wry, heartwarming title that’s sure to find wide acceptance in the classroom and beyond.

Press Here

Booklist (April 1, 2011 (Vol. 107, No. 15))


Preschool-Grade 2. Without so much as a single tab to pull or flap to turn, this might be the most interactive picture book of the year. A simple yellow dot greets readers on the first page: “Press here and turn the page.” A second dot appears; then, after touching that, a third. The simple commands continue, as the reader rubs, taps, shakes, blows, and tilts the book, causing the various dots to react as if the actually book contained a multidimensional space. For example, blowing on the page at one point gets rid of a black background—but now all the dots are shoved up against the top, leaving a huge expanse of white. No problem: “Stand the book up straight to make those dots drop down again.” It’s impossible—impossible!—not to do what the unseen narrator asks, and those who pick this up is going to find themselves looking a mite silly, which is all part of the fun. The bright primary colors and heavy stock make this spartan affair look like a toy, which is entirely appropriate.