From School Library Journal
Grade 3-4?Harry is warned by his mother, Belinda, never to ascend the mysterious "Up Pipe" (drain) or to travel to the "no-top-world" (surface) where the Hoo-Mins (humans) live. Still, encouraged by his fearless friend George, the two centipedes make several trips to these destinations, where they encounter dangerous creatures and barely make it home with their cuticles intact. Later on, when smoke invades their tunnel, the two frantically crawl through the "Up Pipe" and discover a gigantic "meat mountain" that they soon realize is a sleeping Hoo-Min. They escape just in time to scuttle down the pipe and revive the smoke-struck Belinda. Having learned the difference between bravery and foolhardiness, they live happily ever after. This simplistic fantasy is a stretch for even the most accepting readers. The characters never develop but remain insects who have human characteristics uncomfortably imposed upon them. The author is often didactic, defining potentially unfamiliar words or explaining the anatomy of centipedes. The humor is more silly than funny, and this attempt to present things through the eyes of insects is far-fetched and uninteresting. A disappointingly dull book.?Wendy D. Caldiero, New York Public Library
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Kirkus Reviews
Banks (Angela and Diabola, p. 716, etc.) may be pushing the envelope again, this time with a protagonist who is young, poisonous, and many-legged. Contrary to what readers might expect, Harry's quite a winning fellow, for a centipede. He's devoted to his mother, Belinda, but he doesn't always heed her warnings about the ``no-top-world'' above their burrow. Humans pose the biggest danger, and the most forbidden place is the ``Up-Pipe,'' which leads directly into a human's shower. Egged on by his reckless friend, George (who calls him a ``sissyfeelers''), Harry does venture into the no-top-world, and the two centis triumphantly drag home a mole cricket for dinner. When foolish George tempts fate by following a human, Harry runs for Belinda, who saves the day by biting the human on the leg. Later, though, when circumstances force both Harry and George into the Up-Pipe, they have to muster their wits to save their own lives and Belinda's, too. With considerable humor and well-placed details, Banks draws readers into a centipede's-eye view of the world. Ross's sprightly black-and-white line drawings convey all the action and an array of centipede emotions. (Fiction. 8+) --
Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
