School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-7-This fifth installment in the series begins just days after The Mystery of the Cupboard (Morrow, 1993) ends. Omri's father has just found out about the magic cupboard, and he is eager to help Little Bear, with whom the boy's magical adventures began. The British are betraying the 18th-century Iroquois warrior's people, and Little Bear is hoping that Omri and his father can come back in time to counsel him on the best path to take before his whole tribe is wiped out. After careful planning (and after a brief and accidental trip to colonial India), the child and his father travel back to Little Bear's time, where they discover that the situation is more complex and more dangerous than they had thought. This book will be enjoyed by fans of the series. Most of the characters from the previous books make brief appearances. However, this is really Little Bear's story, and Omri's adventures in his longhouse are fascinating and hair-raising. The father-and-son relationship adds a touching dimension to the story, and Omri's deep attachment to Little Bear and his family is made clear. Readers will revel in all of the details of this book, from the intricate workings of the magic to the solutions Omri finds to such problems as how to transport himself, his father, and loads of gear back in time. A satisfying sequel.-Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Only die-hard fans will want to enter this fifth series installment of the adventures that began with The Indian in the Cupboard. Newcomers will find it too confusing to penetrate (the artful little synopses at the beginning notwithstanding) and casual admirers of the series may decide that Banks has finally stretched her premise too thin. Now that Omri's father is privy to the time-traveling secrets of Omri's cupboard and to the magic that brings his toys to life, he eagerly joins Omri on life-threatening adventures and keeps their activities a secret from the rest of the family. He wants to help Omri keep their promise to the Indian toy-cum-18th-century-Mohawk-chief Little Bear to help lead his tribe to safety in the face of threats from the treacherous English. First, however, they have to solve various logistical problemslike getting another magic key to the past. Banks strews the plot with red herrings and dead ends, and the most interesting questionsnamely, how to help Little Bearare watered down with easily solved dilemmas (e.g., Dad is worried about the effects of tampering with the past, but all he finally has to do is read up on Mohawk history and tell Little Bear the best alternative). A few other 11th-hour disclosures suggest an end to the series; indeed, this soil has been farmed too long. Ages 8-12. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
There will certainly be fans who will be delighted to have further adventures of Omri and the plastic Indian that comes to life. Not as fresh as its predecessors, the latest episode is rather convoluted and stretches even the fantasy boundaries the author herself has set up. It's disappointing, also, to have the adventure taken away from the boys, with Omri's parents knowing about, and even participating in, the magic. From HORN BOOK Spring 1999, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
In a patchy fifth volume in the series of books that began with The Indian in the Cupboard (1980), Banks delves into Omri's family history to explain his psychic powers, and sends him back in time twice: first on a brief but bruising visit to early 20th- century India, then to the longhouse of his Mohawk friend, Little Bear. Summaries of past events and elaborately laid groundwork slow the pace, but it picks up after Omri summons his ancestor, Jessica Charlotte, to create another magic keynot to the cupboard, but to the family carand with his father jumps back to the 18th century to help rescue Little Bear's people from Europeans. The stereotyping and cultural parochialism some critics have found in this series is particularly evident here; not only does Omri characterize (Asian) Indians as ``superstitious,'' and later fret that his father is ``going native,'' but Little Bear's attackers are downright subhuman, in contrast to the uniformly noble Mohawks. To lighten the mood, the author tacks on a superfluous adventure, in which two of Omri's animated figurines are washed down the drain and have to be fished from the septic tank. Along with piecemeal plotting and broadly brushed characters, Banks leaves gaps in logic to puzzle even inveterate fans. (b&w illustrations, not seen) (Fiction. 10-12)
Booklist Review
Gr. 4^-8. This fifth installment in the Indian in the Cupboard series picks up two days following The Mystery of the Cupboard (1993). Omri and Dad (who has learned the secret of the cupboard) decide to return to Little Bear's time to help the Iroquois chief deal with all the problems caused by the eighteenth-century European settlement. With the help of Jessica Charlotte (who imparts some magic to a new key) and Patrick (who serves as official key turner), the two travel to upstate New York and convince Little Bear to lead the tribe to Canada. They return to discover that Mom has known their secret all along, and they promise, once again, to stop using the magic. Omri's followers probably won't care that this trip could have been handled simply by bringing Little Bear to the present and explaining his options, or that Banks' writing teems with British terms and expressions. Illustrated with grainy black-and-white sketches and a color cover painting that does not match the description in the text; save this one for true series fans. --Kay Weisman