February 29, 2016
Ten-year-old Tiger Brooks and his neighbor, Luna Lopez, get up-close and personal with Henri Rousseau’s “Tiger in a Tropical Storm” in this action-driven first book in the Fantastic Frame series. Soon after Tiger and Luna meet their reclusive elderly neighbor, Viola Dots, they get sucked into a copy of the painting—whose tiger immediately starts hunting them down. Kallis’s background in film and TV animation is evident in her dramatic color images of the children’s Jonny Quest–esque jungle escapades, and the closing sequence paves the way for a Seurat-based sequel, Splat! Another Messy Monday, available simultaneously. A closing note offers information about Rousseau and his work. Ages 7–9.
February 1, 2016
Two kids get up close and personal with some great works of art in this first in a new series. Tiger Brooks is used to his little sister's fantastical stories. So when the top-hatted orange pig she describes turns out to be not only real, but a next-door neighbor, Tiger enlists the help of his kooky new friend, Luna, to investigate. It turns out the pig works for the reclusive painter Viola Dots. Years ago a magical picture frame swallowed up her only son, and she's searched for him in artworks ever since. When Tiger's tinkering starts the magic up again, he and Luna are sucked into a reproduction of Henri Rousseau's Surprised! or Tiger in a Tropical Storm, hungry predator and all. After meeting and failing to rescue Viola's son in this adventure, the series is set up for the intrepid pair to infiltrate other classic paintings in the future. Backmatter provides information on the real Rousseau and his life. Oliver keeps the plot itself snappy and peppy. While there are few surprises, there's also an impressive lack of lag time. This is helped in no small part by Kallis' art, which goes from pen-and-ink drawings to full-blown color images once the kids cross over into the painting. Tiger is a white boy, and Luna is a dark-haired Latina. Eeney meeney miney moe, catch this series before it goes! (Adventure. 7-9)
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February 1, 2016
Gr 2-4-In this series opener, 10-year-old Tyler "Tiger" Brooks and his family have just moved into a new house. When his four-year-old sister Maggie tells him she saw a pig in a top hat outside, he scoffs...but sure enough, when he follows his remote-controlled helicopter into his neighbor's yard, he meets Chives, the talking pig who acts as a butler to the "mean and crazy" elderly lady who lives there. He decides to investigate with his new friend, Luna Lopez, and before long they are hearing a truly incredible tale from Viola Dots, whose 13-year-old son David disappeared into a magical frame 50 years ago. Tiger almost immediately figures out the frame's particular magic-involving an "Hour of Power" and whatever painting resides in the frame at that time-and he and Luna are sucked into a copy of Henri Rousseau's Surprised! where they meet David himself, still a teenager. They narrowly escape the painting's tiger and return to Viola's house, promising to return at another time to try to rescue her son and effectively setting up future installments. Cartoonish drawings-in full color when the duo is inside the painting, black-and-white when they are not-are plentiful, and an afterword introduces readers to the painting and the artist. VERDICT This mildly entertaining adventure is one to recommend to less than confident readers looking for a new series.-Laurie Slagenwhite Walters, Brighton District Library, Brighton, MI
Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
March 1, 2016
Grades 2-5 Oliver bases this new series on an unusual, promising premise: an ornate magic picture frame that sucks bystanders into any painting it holds. Mysteriously reclusive painter Viola Dots has placed a copy of Henri Rousseau's Tiger in a Tropical Storm into the frame. Without warning, unsuspecting young visitors Tyler and Luna find themselves crashing through a real junglewith a real tiger in hot pursuit. Fortunately, help is at hand from Viola's teenage son, who, in a Jumanji-esque twist, was trapped in the frame 50 years before and has been moving from painting to painting ever since. A clock embedded in the frame opens the portal at set times each day, making escape possibleif the young folk can reach the right spot before the tiger does. Kallis' color scenes of bug-eyed children add bright notes of comedy and terror, and an afterword about Rousseau's life and art rounds off the breathlessly paced adventure with a dash of arts education. More adventures follow in a copublished sequel, Splat! Another Messy Sunday.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)
July 1, 2016
A magical picture frame sucks Tiger and Luna into famous paintings to rescue a trapped boy: they meet the ferocious tiger of Rousseau's Surprised! (Danger) and face a bully in Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (Splat). Gimmicky and lightweight, the stories include cartoon-style illustrations that incorporate the paintings; "About the Painting" details appended.
(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)