Trouble with Tattle-Tails

July 1, 2021
Auggie, the boy who cares for one-of-a-kind creatures at the Fabled Stables on an island at the top of the world (Willa the Wisp, rev. 9/20), returns for his second lively adventure with a new set of challenges. In the village of Rainbow's End, the newly arrived Tattle-Tail has escaped its box and multiplied. By the time Auggie and his partners, Fen the Stick-in-the Mud and Willa the Wisp, arrive, the Tattle-Tails have attached themselves to the behinds of every resident. These Tattle-Tails tattle on the town's residents with great enthusiasm, broadcasting all the wrongs they have witnessed. "She cut in line." "He didn't wash his hands." "She said a bad word." All this exposure of bad behavior adds a lot of humor to the story as well as making trouble for Rainbow's End. The tattling creates so much bickering and disruption that no one can address truly important issues -- such as the town's stolen pot of gold. Bright cartoon art and speech-bubble dialogue help add character and detail to the story. The silly imaginary creatures combined with a gentle plot work well for early chapter book readers as well as for those eager to listen to longer stories read aloud. The solution to the Tattle-Tail dilemma, and the problems it caused, offers a number of points for engaging discussion. Julie Roach

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from April 15, 2021
In the second Fabled Stables book, Auggie must rescue a one-of-a-kind creature--then rescue a town from it. Auggie loves caring for the creatures of the Fabled Stables, doing everything he can to make them happy. However, he struggles to figure out the best way to do that for the Unfeeling Brute, as she's a big, caterpillarlike creature lacking a mouth, eyes, and other features. As he ponders his problem, suddenly the stables magically expand, indicating a new tenant needs to be rescued: It's the Tattle-Tail. Auggie and his best friends, Willa the Wisp and Fen, a Stick-in-the-Mud, head off to Rainbow's End and find two crises afoot. First, someone's stolen the village's magical pot of gold; more pressingly, everyone in town sports colorful, fluffy, sentient tails that have recently attached themselves to the populace and are ratting out all of their embarrassing secrets and misdeeds. The tattling is so silly and the tails illustrated so joyfully that they'll delight readers, especially when Auggie's attempts to free the town backfire in funny ways. Another running joke concerns beeswax stuck in Fen's ears, causing him to comically mishear other characters. In between misunderstandings, Fen solves the robbery--unmasking the thieves as foes faced in the series opener--and inspires Auggie's solution to the Tattle-Tail problem, which leads to a happy ending for the Brute as well. Auggie's depicted as beige; Rainbow's End has background diversity. Funny, charming, and bighearted. (Fantasy. 5-9)

COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 1, 2021
Auggie, the boy who cares for one-of-a-kind creatures at the Fabled Stables on an island at the top of the world (Willa the Wisp, rev. 9/20), returns for his second lively adventure with a new set of challenges. In the village of Rainbow's End, the newly arrived Tattle-Tail has escaped its box and multiplied. By the time Auggie and his partners, Fen the Stick-in-the Mud and Willa the Wisp, arrive, the Tattle-Tails have attached themselves to the behinds of every resident. These Tattle-Tails tattle on the town's residents with great enthusiasm, broadcasting all the wrongs they have witnessed. "She cut in line." "He didn't wash his hands." "She said a bad word." All this exposure of bad behavior adds a lot of humor to the story as well as making trouble for Rainbow's End. The tattling creates so much bickering and disruption that no one can address truly important issues -- such as the town's stolen pot of gold. Bright cartoon art and speech-bubble dialogue help add character and detail to the story. The silly imaginary creatures combined with a gentle plot work well for early chapter book readers as well as for those eager to listen to longer stories read aloud. The solution to the Tattle-Tail dilemma, and the problems it caused, offers a number of points for engaging discussion.

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)