No tricks here—this is a Halloween treat sure to please.
A woefully unobservant pooch doggedly pursues a thieving witch on Halloween.
Accompanied by a red squirrel sidekick, Detective Cluehound leads a group of costumed trick-or-treating animals down the street. In the distant sky, a witch silhouetted against the full moon seems part of the seasonal decor. But once the detective returns to the office to relax and enjoy some candy, readers will notice the witch outside the door. She snags Cluehound’s bucket of sweets and flies off into the night. The chase is on! The detective tirelessly tracks the witch and her bright-eyed black cat through a Halloween shop, a creepy forest, a cemetery, a corn maze, and even a circus. Though Cluehound never sees the witch, the squirrel easily spots her in each scene, as will readers—youngsters will enjoy feeling superior to the cheerfully oblivious detective. Blanco’s deft details and fluorescent teal and purple color scheme create a convincingly spooky atmosphere. Cluehound never loses hope, however, and looks discouraged only near the end; heading home in the rain, in a bedraggled trench coat and fedora, Cluehound tromps off defeatedly, with the soggy squirrel in tow. But the resilient Cluehound’s smiling again even before the pair return to the office to find a lovely surprise—and a note from the witch proposing they do it again next year. Readers will be eager to do so.
No tricks here—this is a Halloween treat sure to please. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781664300699
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers.
The bestselling series (How to Catch an Elf, 2016, etc.) about capturing mythical creatures continues with a story about various ways to catch the Easter Bunny as it makes its annual deliveries.
The bunny narrates its own story in rhyming text, beginning with an introduction at its office in a manufacturing facility that creates Easter eggs and candy. The rabbit then abruptly takes off on its delivery route with a tiny basket of eggs strapped to its back, immediately encountering a trap with carrots and a box propped up with a stick. The narrative focuses on how the Easter Bunny avoids increasingly complex traps set up to catch him with no explanation as to who has set the traps or why. These traps include an underground tunnel, a fluorescent dance floor with a hidden pit of carrots, a robot bunny, pirates on an island, and a cannon that shoots candy fish, as well as some sort of locked, hazardous site with radiation danger. Readers of previous books in the series will understand the premise, but others will be confused by the rabbit’s frenetic escapades. Cartoon-style illustrations have a 1960s vibe, with a slightly scary, bow-tied bunny with chartreuse eyes and a glowing palette of neon shades that shout for attention.
This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-3817-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Not enough tricks to make this a treat.
Another holiday title (How To Catch the Easter Bunny by Adam Wallace, illustrated by Elkerton, 2017) sticks to the popular series’ formula.
Rhyming four-line verses describe seven intrepid trick-or-treaters’ efforts to capture the witch haunting their Halloween. Rhyming roadblocks with toolbox is an acceptable stretch, but too often too many words or syllables in the lines throw off the cadence. Children familiar with earlier titles will recognize the traps set by the costume-clad kids—a pulley and box snare, a “Tunnel of Tricks.” Eventually they accept her invitation to “floss, bump, and boogie,” concluding “the dance party had hit the finale at last, / each dancing monster started to cheer! / There’s no doubt about it, we have to admit: / This witch threw the party of the year!” The kids are diverse, and their costumes are fanciful rather than scary—a unicorn, a dragon, a scarecrow, a red-haired child in a lab coat and bow tie, a wizard, and two space creatures. The monsters, goblins, ghosts, and jack-o'-lanterns, backgrounded by a turquoise and purple night sky, are sufficiently eerie. Still, there isn’t enough originality here to entice any but the most ardent fans of Halloween or the series. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Not enough tricks to make this a treat. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72821-035-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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