Nicobobinus (Lythway Large Print Series) - Hardcover

Jones, Terry

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0745113192 ISBN 13: 9780745113197

Publisher: Chivers, 1991

Synopsis

His name was Nicobobinus. He lived a long time ago, in a city called Venice, and he could do anything...at least his best friend, Rosie, believed he could do anything, and that is what led them into a series of incredible adventures. For Very Important Reasons they set off to discover the Land of Dragons. But before then even see it, they have to get past kidnapping pirates, murderous monks, and mountains that move, on their hilarious but thrilling journey.

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Grade 4 Up Previously successful comic collaborators Jones and Foreman ( Fairy Tales 1982, The Saga of Erik the Viking 1983, both Schocken) team up once again to tell the tale of Nicobobinus, ". . .the most extraordinary child who ever stuck his tongue out at the Prime Minister." Unfortunately, what sounds like a promising antic romp quickly turns into an increasingly frantic gallop. For in Jones' busy hands, the delicate, invisible mechanism of comedy is transformed into a great Rube Goldberg contraption with its all-too-visible, frantically spinning works spilling out everywhere. Everything is moving but nothing is working. Thus, for example, the good idea of turning Nico's limbs to gold to motivate his journey to the Land of the Dragons is compromised by its clumsy implementation: the introduction of a deus ex machina gold man who, without any viable motivation, performs the transformation necessary to get the plot creakily underway and then is unceremoniously dumped into the nearest canal. ( Nicobobinus is set in Venice "a long time ago" for absolutely no discernible reason.) On the positive side, the characters of Nicobobinus and his friend Rosie are engaging, the chief villainsan avaricious Abbot and his band of murderous monksare frightening, and the illustrations are occasionally inspired. Unfortunately the plot is so contrived and so unbelievable and the tone so relentlessly whimsical that by the time of the author's coy admissionon the last pagethat Nicobobinus did not stick out his tongue at the Prime Minister, readers will be too tired to care. Michael Cart, Beverly Hills Public Lib .
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly:

A somewhat amusing adventure of two children in search of the Land of Dragons, marred by authorial intrusions and strained humor. Nicobobinus, a small boy in a Monty Pythonesque Venice, is capable of doing anything, or so his best friend Rosie thinks. Their adventures begin when Rosie decides to look for the Land of Dragons. Before they've even left Venice, Nico has had both feet and one hand turned into gold; then he is captured by pirates who want to cut off his golden limbs. Rosie rescues him, but more peculiar adventures are in store as the pirates turn out to be evil monks, and a mysterious ship takes them to the Sea of Mountains. Finally, in the City of Cries, Nico and Rosie discover the dragons that may hold the secret they seek. Uneven and sometimes patronizing, but there are still some funny adventures and some handsome watercolor illustrations.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Chivers
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0745113192
• ISBN 13: 9780745113197
• Binding: Hardcover