Synopsis
The first time Minton saw him, Hector was shooting right out of a volcano! Hector is the hottest boy who ever lived, and no one can come near him except Minton, the fire salamander. Hector feels unbearably lonely despite Minton’s company until one day a storm sweeps the duo far away to the cold snowy lands. There they meet Gilda, a cool Viking adventurer, and suddenly life for Hector changes forever.
School Library Journal
K-Gr 3-This odd Australian import is about Hector, a red-headed boy spawned by a volcano, whose only friend is Minton the salamander-no one else can stand the heat he projects. After a great storm floods their home on the edge of the world, they wind up floating adrift at sea and are finally rescued by a Viking adventurer. Gilda enjoys Hector's warmth, and takes him home with her, but the other villagers are suspicious and frightened of the stranger. When Hector literally thaws out a frozen child and his usefulness in a cold climate is made evident (he can heat bath water or sauna rocks with a touch), he is at last accepted, but it is Gilda who buys a sled and pony and starts ``Hector's Heating and Hot Water Service,'' making a wonderful new life for herself, the boy, and his salamander. The lengthy text has no pep and the cartoon illustrations are static-the colors are muted, except for Hector's wild red hair. If there is any real humor here, few children are likely to find it.-Rosanne Cerny, Queens Borough Public Library, NY