‘Birthday Ball’ novel will enthrall preteens
Published 9:34 pm Sunday, May 30, 2010
”The Birthday Ball” by Lois Lowry, ages 8 to 12, $16
Award-winning author Lois Lowry takes a masterful swing at comedy with “The Birthday Ball.” She packs her lively fairy tale with witty wordplay and quirky characters. Her story pivots on Princess Patricia Priscilla, who’s about to turn 16. She’s so bored with her privileged life that she sneaks into the village disguised as a peasant and attends school.
Clouding her days is the impending birthday gala where her parents expect her to select a suitor.
No way is the princess ready to make that decision, especially from the three horrid choices. Lowry’s marvelous descriptions of them will have readers laughing. Two are the wealthy but ugly Duke Desmond of Dyspepsia, and the narcissistic and heartless Prince Percival of Pustula.
Bouncing throughout the text are expressive line drawings by Jules Feiffer. His perky cover may turn off a few readers, especially boys, and that would be a shame since this is a perfect tale for tweeners.
”Pierre the Penguin, A True Story” by Jean Marzollo, ages 3 to 7, $15.95
The story in “Pierre the Penguin” offers a special reason for a field trip to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Here, in the African Hall a few years ago, the academy’s aquatic biologist, Pam Schaller, noticed her oldest resident penguin, Pierre, 24, was in trouble.
He had no feathers. They hadn’t grown back from his annual molting. Pam fretted until she got the idea to make him a wetsuit. Her innovation worked. The tiny black jacket kept Pierre warm enough to let his body grow new feathers.
Youngsters can see Pierre on three live webcams at www.calacademy.org/webcams/penguins. A free teachers guide is available at www.gale.cengage.com.
”Click, Clack, 1 2 3” by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin, ages 2 to 5, $7.99
There’s something fishy going on at the farmer’s house in this clever board book. While the farmer snoozes, his animals, led by the ducks, tiptoe about with buckets, water and a typewriter. Cronin and Lewin draw on their best-sellers for this counting book with a twist. It’s perfect for tots.
