Knock About with the Fitzgerald-Trouts
- Publisher
- Tundra
- Initial publish date
- May 2017
- Category
- Siblings, Environment, Homelessness & Poverty
- Recommended Age
- 8 to 12
- Recommended Grade
- 3 to 7
-
Hardback
- ISBN
- 9781770498785
- Publish Date
- May 2017
- List Price
- $19.99
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9780735263192
- Publish Date
- May 2018
- List Price
- $12.99
Classroom Resources
Where to buy it
Description
The much-anticipated second book in a Dahl-esque middle-grade series by award-winning poet and screenwriter Esta Spalding, with illustrations by acclaimed artist Sydney Smith.
Welcome to the further adventures of the plucky Fitzgerald-Trout siblings, who live on a tropical island where the grown-ups are useless, but the kids can drive.
In this second installment, the delightfully self-reliant siblings continue their search for a home. This time, their pursuit will bring them face-to-face with a flood, illegal carnivorous plants, and the chance to win an extraordinary prize at a carnival. Will they finally find the place they truly belong?
About the authors
Esta Spalding's first book, Carrying Place, was nominated for the Gerald R. Lampert Award and her second, Anchoress, was a finalist for the Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Award for Best Specialty Book of the Year. Her third book, Lost August, won the Pat Lowther Memorial Award, and her fourth, The Wife's Account, was shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Memorial Award. Esta lives in Guelph, Ontario.
Sydney Smith was born in rural Nova Scotia and has been drawing from an early age. Since graduating from NSCAD University, he has illustrated multiple children’s books, including the highly acclaimed wordless picture book Sidewalk Flowers, conceived by Jon Arno Lawson, which won a Governor General’s Award, was named a New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book and has been long-listed for the Kate Greenaway Medal. He is also the illustrator of Grant and Tillie Go Walking by Monica Kulling and The White Cat and the Monk by Jo Ellen Bogart, both highly acclaimed. Sydney has received a number of other awards for his illustrations, including the Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration. He now lives in Toronto and works in a shared studio space in Chinatown.
Editorial Reviews
PRAISE FOR Look Out for the Fitzgerald-Trouts:
"It’s goofy, sweet, and buoyant with good will—Pippi Longstocking for our more hyperactive times." --The Horn Book
"If this sounds like the set up for a preposterous tale that incorporates a fantastical plot, quirky characters, and some child-friendly amorality, that's because Look Out for the Fitzgerald-Trouts is exactly that and more . . . This is plain fun with an edge, after a Dahl-esque fashion." --Quill & Quire
"Spalding, a poet and screenwriter making her children's book debut, balances the direness of their situation with over-the-top characters and humor-driven narration. If the story's magic lies in its Dahl-esque approach to topics like homelessness and parental neglect, its heart lies in the relationship between these four mutually devoted children." --Publishers Weekly
"Esta Spalding . . . has perfectly created the backdrop for this band of misfits and their tropical-island surroundings. Sydney Smith . . . is an excellent choice to bring to life the Fitzgerald-Trouts and their island." --Atlantic Books Today
