Dot In Larryland: the big little book of an odd-sized friendship

Kirkus Review (December 1, 2008)
A wee girl and a gargantuan boy prove that pals come in all sizes in this offbeat exploration of friendship. Miniature Dot is "just one jot bigger than invisible" while extra-large Larry's so huge he doesn't realize he's standing in a puddle until the next day. Both are "totally miserable" and lonesome in a "BIG way," because they can't find friends their own size. Dot's invitations to grains of sand and fleas and Larry's overtures to a house, a tree and a cloud are similarly rebuffed. But one day when Larry's consuming his usual enormous breakfast, the teeny, sneezing Dot flies out of his pepper shaker and the unlikely duo meet and discover they have a lot in common. Chast's hilarious cartoon-like pen, ink and watercolor illustrations exaggerate the outrageous disparity in size between protagonists, showing mini-Dot scaling a blade of grass and maxi-Larry towering over his landscape. Marx's breezy, tongue-in-cheek text bristles with humorous metaliterary asides (Dot's half of the story is in verse, but Larry's is not, for instance), but successfully shows that size doesn't matter between friends. Eccentric fun. (Picture book. 5-8)

The Bone series

Publishers Weekly (February 7, 2005)
The nine-volume Bone graphic novel series was the toast of the comics world when it was published by Smith's own Cartoon Books beginning in the early 1990s; in this first volume of Scholastic's new edition, the original b&w art has been beautifully converted into color. Smith's epic concerns three blobby creatures who have stumbled into a valley full of monsters, magic, farmers, an exiled princess and a huge, cynical dragon. The story is something like a Chuck Jones version of The Lord of the Rings: hilarious and action-packed, but rarely losing track of its darker subtext about power and evil. This volume is the most lighthearted of the bunch, though, featuring some of the wittiest writing of any children's literature in recent memory-a few of Smith's gags are so delicious that he repeated them for the rest of the series. It also introduces the Bone cast's unforgettable supporting characters: the leathery, tough-as-nails, racing-cow-breeding Gran'ma Ben; the carnivorous but quiche-loving "rat creatures"; a spunky trio of baby opossums; and Ted the Bug, whose minimalist appearance (a tiny semicircle) exemplifies Smith's gift for less-is-more cartooning. The way his clear-lined, exaggerated characters contrast with their subtle, detailed backgrounds is a product of his background in animation, and so is his mastery of camera angles and choreography. This is first-class kid lit: exciting, funny, scary and resonant enough that it will stick with readers for a long time. (Feb.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

100 Cupboards

Kirkus Review (November 15, 2007)
Henry York awakens one night to find that two knobs have popped out of the plaster at the head of his bed. Having lived a sheltered existence thanks to his overprotective parents, the boy is currently staying with his aunt, uncle and cousins and is up for a little adventure. Scraping the wall reveals 99 cupboards of varying shapes and sizes, each one a connection to another world. Unfortunately, opening one of the doors means the release of an unspeakably evil presence, causing the secrets of both the cupboards and Henry's past to come to light in the face of great danger. Wilson takes the concept of finding a door to another realm and simply extends it to its logical extreme. The result is a highly imaginative tale that successfully balances its hero's inner and outer struggles. Wilson's writing is fantastical, but works with clever sentences and turns of phrase that render it more than just another rote fantasy. The ending concludes the adventure satisfactorily but leaves plenty of room for a sequel. (Fantasy. 9-14)

The Reader's Bill of Rights

The Reader's Bill of rights
1. The right not to read.
2. The right to skip pages.
3. The right to not finish.
4. The right to reread.
5. The right to read anything.
6. The right to mistake a book for real life.
7. The right to read anywhere.
8. The right to dip in.
9. The right to read out loud.
10. The right to be quiet
Daniel Pennac - The Reader's Rights

Neil Armstrong Is My Uncle & Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me

Booklist starred (April 15, 2009 (Vol. 105, No. 16))
Grades 3-6. It is rare to have a story told with sympathy from the viewpoint of a bully. This debut novel, set in upstate New York in the summer of 1969, does just that with wit and a light touch that never denies the story’s sorrows. Tammy, 10, is stuck at home with her cold parents while her brother is away in Vietnam. In her first-person narrative, she reveals the hurt and loneliness that fuel her anger as she targets the new, skinny kid, Douglas, who has moved into a foster home on the block. She mocks him for telling wild lies: he is training for the Olympics; his uncle is Neil Armstrong, about to walk on the moon; and more. The other kids, including the snotty girls from the loving family next door, let him be. Why is Tammy so furious? Gradually the reader sees that she blames Douglas for the disappearance of her beloved only friend, a foster kid who moved away without telling Tammy why and where she was going. Douglas is a bit too nice, but he messes up when he tries to help Tammy, and many readers will recognize the muddled and caring gestures among friends and enemies.

Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Writing Thank-You Notes

Horn Book (September/October, 2008)
Moxy Maxwell's mother warns her that unless she finishes writing all twelve of her Christmas thank-you notes before traveling to Los Angeles to visit her big-shot Hollywood mover-and-shaker father, there will be "consequences." Moxy, a cross between Walter Mitty and Lucy Ricardo for the beginning-chapter-book set, pursues her typical rounds of procrastination, daydreaming, and scheming, assisted by her entourage: her five-year-old sister, Pansy, and her Moxy-worshiping neighbor, Sam. Mayhem eventually ensues, some of which results in an out-of-control photocopier, a broken La-Z-Boy chair, and accidental living room vandalism with forbidden gold spray paint. As with the first book in the series, Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little (rev. 9/07), amusing photographs (taken in the story by Moxy's twin brother Mark) accompany the writing and enhance many of the funniest moments, and playful chapter titles foreshadow upcoming mini-disasters. There are a few developments: stepfather Ajax, who was more of a background presence in the original, is given a more prominent role, and the plot touches upon such noncomedic subjects as absentee parents and blended families. In the end, while not fully reformed, Moxy gives an indication that she is making some progress, although not too much: readers can expect to delight in her future grandiose schemes and reveries.

Booklist (May 15, 2009 (Vol. 105, No. 18))
Grades 2-4. Lasky’s biographical picture book imagines a day in the latter years of Georgia O’Keeffe’s life on Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, New Mexico. Waking before sunrise, the aging artist dresses and heads to the desert to paint in the lavender light of the approaching dawn. As the day passes, Georgia continues to find artistic inspiration in her surroundings, from the changing color of the sky to a piece of bleached-white bone. Filled with vivid sensory detail, Lasky’s poetic text conveys, through the everyday moments of Georgia’s solitary life in the southwestern desert, the painter’s unfailing desire to express the beauty of the natural world as she saw it. Eitan’s accompanying paintings are composed of flat swatches of rich, opaque color, and the sophisticated economy of detail is particularly appealing when evoking the stark beauty of the arid landscape. Concluding pages present a brief history of O’Keeffe’s life, an author’s note, and a selected bibliography. A fresh complement to the superb picture-book biographies My Name Is Georgia, by Jeanette Winter (1998) and Through Georgia’s Eyes, by Rachel Rodriguez (2006).