An upbeat friendship story with flying dogs and a measure of magic.
A royal bulldog learns that with great power comes great responsibility.
Lola, a pupasus (a dog with wings) attends Wuff Obedience School to practice essential skills with the other pupasi on Friendship Mountain, an island in the sky that’s home to Friendship Falls, source of the world’s magic. This series opener introduces Lola and her friends, as well as little brother Slobber and their parents, the king and queen of the entire pupdom. When her pawrents must go to bring magical soup to Lola’s ailing Grandmup, they leave Lola to stay behind and practice being in charge. Her father replaces her tiara with a larger one (“a symbol of the pupdom”). Her friends insist that since she’s in charge, she can make whatever rules she likes; elated, Lola throws a party, putting herself first in line for paw painting and giving herself an advantage in the limbo contest. Her friends are annoyed, but when her new tiara goes missing, they come to her aid. Goyal Yu nicely delivers a familiar friendship trope—the bossy friend who sees the light—this time with magic dogs. She deploys amusing canine-oriented vocabulary throughout: The characters nosh on “pup-tarts,” bad things are described as “pawful,” and good things are “puperific.” Laberis’ lively cartoon illustrations depict an entertainingly silly variety of winged dogs in dresses, capes, and crowns.
An upbeat friendship story with flying dogs and a measure of magic. (Chapter book. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2026
ISBN: 9780063075795
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2026
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Disconcerting and possibly deadly dealings are afoot; certain to charm younger fans of the macabre.
In the latest installment of the delightfully disturbing chapter-book series, the mundane once more takes on supernatural qualities, this time in the form of veggies.
With this follow-up to Troubling Tonsils! (2025), our host, Jasper Rabbit, once more channels Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling. As Jasper narrates, we meet our heroes: fourth graders Thaddeus Badger and Oliver Possum, who love nothing more than eating junk food, particularly the hamburgers at Hurt-A-Burger (a mildly brilliant corporate name on the author’s part). When Oliver’s parents trick the two into a dinner of salads at their favorite fast-food joint, Thaddeus feels betrayed, but Oliver experiences something a little more dire. Soon after, Oliver starts acting strangely, and his parents begin behaving even more oddly. What’s going on? And does it have anything to do with the full moon? Tone is the true star of the show in this series; the mystery unspools thanks to the buildup of unnerving moments. Reynolds combines suspense with a keen ability to artistically frame both sunny innocent sequences and those rich with dark foreboding. Notably, this is no morality tale about eating your vegetables—this tale is fully on the side of its child readers. Brown’s black-and-white images, punctuated with eerie pops of green, heighten both horrifying and comedic moments.
Disconcerting and possibly deadly dealings are afoot; certain to charm younger fans of the macabre. (Chapter book. 6-9)Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781665961110
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2025
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