Pugs of the Frozen North

Starred review from October 1, 2015
Two kids and their 66 pugs enter a magical dog-sled race. The Cakes in Space (2015) team returns for a ridiculous winter adventure story. When the ocean freezes solid right underneath their boat]and also freezes the boat itself]the Lucky Star's crew faces tough decisions. Shen's left behind with their cargo of 66 pugs. He finds a nearby town and learns that the frozen ocean's caused by True Winter, a once-in-a-lifetime event heralding a race to the top of the world]the winner gets a wish from the Snowfather. Shen and Sika hitch the pugs to her elderly's grandfather's sled]he nearly won last True Winter, and Sika's wish is for him to become well and live long enough to race again. The wacky competitors include a villainous Brit who loves to cheat (with tricks like the classic misleading detour sign). The obstacles on the race range from yetis (who have a noodle bar, because "Yeti Spaghetti Bar sounded too obvious") to a Kraken. (McIntyre's doofy, bug-eyed pugs are never more hilarious than in the glorious two-page spread where they battle the sea monster.) As the Snowfather can't save Sika's grandfather, the story's silliness seamlessly transitions to musings about the immortality of stories and an old man's positive end-of-life portrayal. A madcap, magical blend of fluff and other good stuff. (Fantasy. 7-10)

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November 1, 2015

Gr 2-4-The third "Not-So-Impossible Tale" by Reeve and McIntyre is about a race through magical snow in a once-in-a-lifetime winter. Whoever gets to the North Pole first has their wish granted by the Snowfather (not to be confused with Santa Claus). Shen, a shipwrecked young sailor, and his friend Sika, who lives at the "Po of Ice," have 66 pugs to pull their sled for the duration of the week-long race. They may have the best reason for wanting to win the Great Northern race, but they have to get past the faster sleds being pulled by robot dogs and polar bears. Just as in the other two stand-alone books in the series, this installment has several unexpected twists. People turn into Yetis, noodles become addictive, and snow can echo, form bridges or were-snowmen, and fall upward. Compared to the previous installment, Oliver and the Seawigs (Random, 2014), the ending here is a bit predictable. Nevertheless, chapter book readers and fans of the series will enjoy this winter romp. VERDICT A fine addition to school or public library chapter book collections.-Tanya Boudreau, Cold Lake Public Library, AB, Canada

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 15, 2015
Grades 3-5 *Starred Review* Young orphan Shen rescues 66 pugs from a ship wrecked on frozen seas and puts them to good use: pulling a sled in a once-in-a-lifetime race to the fabled Snowfather's palace at the North Pole. Accompanied by new friend Sika and competing against the likes of Helga Hammerfest ( I am always getting mistaken for a man, on account of my size, and also my beard ) and Professor Shackleton Jones (packing a carbon-fiber sled driven by robotic Woof-O-Tron 2000s), the young mushers undertake an Arctic odyssey that carries them across 50 different kinds of snow, over the aptly named Kraken Deep, and past such typically northern hazards as trolls and singing, noodle-loving yetis, to their inevitable, successful conclusion. Reeve's narrative, never dull, is surrounded on nearly every page with McIntyre's black-and-green cartoon scenes of snowy foolery (picture it: pugs in sweaters). The properly happy close is emotionally heightened by a poignant meeting between the benign Snowfather and Sika's beloved, dying grandfather. It's an effective combination of off-the-wall tomfoolerythe 66 pugs alone are a laughand deeper themes, and the end result is a story that is rich in humor and meaning both. Pug power!(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)