If this book were a dish it might be described as good meat with too many trimmings.
A darkly comical guide to dishing up royalty, from a black-magic Julia Child.
“Gingrich the witch is famous for her recipes,” and her cookbook shows crones and stepfamilies alike how to turn “a pesky princess” into a meal. It starts with a typical wicked witch setting: “a house made of chocolate” tucked away in “the darkest corner of the woods.” A wordless double-page spread of Gingrich’s cookbook with a few well-chosen ingredients nearby precedes information about kitchen utensils and the best traps to procure the main ingredient. Next come the recipes, which include the Cinderella burger, Rapunzel salad, and a nice Snow White stew. For young fans of the macabre, perhaps with an aversion to Disney princesses, the unsettling, dark, blocky illustrations will provide gruesome glee. The drawings are perfectly unappetizing, as they imagine a witch’s palate, and are the most enjoyable aspect of the book. The length of this picture book and the density of text makes for a tricky read-aloud, which, combined with the subject matter, could limit the audience to older readers. The original Spanish may have more artistry in the writing, while the translated text is often clunky or unnecessarily verbose if not without the occasional delicious bon mot (“The Little Red Riding Hoods are an excellent game meat”).
If this book were a dish it might be described as good meat with too many trimmings. (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2018
ISBN: 978-84-946926-4-2
Page Count: 56
Publisher: NubeOcho
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2018
Younger readers will wish that they could toss their heads…or at least that they knew someone who could.
A lonely zombie makes new friends just by being herself—on Halloween.
Quelled by Auntie Departed’s warnings, young Ghoulia has always confined her outdoor play to the walled grounds of Crumbling Manor…until she eavesdrops on some living children and learns about Halloween. Taking advantage of this perfect opportunity to fit in, she sneaks out with her albino greyhound (and gifted hairdresser), Tragedy, for some trick-or-treating. Hearing her name as “Julia,” the costumed children welcome her. But when they compete to see who’s the scariest, Ghoulia forgets herself and does her “special scary move,” tossing her head in the air and catching it in one hand. The children stand wide-eyed through no fewer than three illustrations on three successive pages—and then welcome her with wild delight and agree to keep her secret from the grown-ups. From then on they become regular visitors to Crumbling Manor. In full-color pictures that take up all or most of every page, Cantini depicts her undead urchin Tim Burton–style, with stitched lips, gray skin, and purple shadows beneath huge eyeballs (everyone else appears white—or sheet white). Assisted by suggestive labels (“Creaky steps”; “A spider visiting from the attic”; “Painting of Grandad Coffin”), the manorial setting has an Addams Family vibe and provides just the right spooky setting for this series opener. Halloween-themed activities are included in the backmatter.
Younger readers will wish that they could toss their heads…or at least that they knew someone who could. (Fantasy. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3293-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
Not particularly challenging—nor, since the settings are conventional enough that even younger children will probably find...
In the same vein as the author’s Once Upon a Time Map Book (1999 with foldouts; flat edition 2004), more map-reading practice in the guise of an ocean voyage and six tours of spooky landscapes or locales.
Hennessy starts by inviting armchair travelers to step aboard the Ghostly Galleon in a Mediterranean “Haunted Harbor” and later to join such tour guides as Gruesome Gus for a trip around the “Western Terror-tories,” and Hercules as he revisits the sites of selected labors in the “Land of Mythical Monsters.” For each expedition, the author lays out an itinerary with map coordinates in stages measured by “mermaid leagues,” “zombie miles” or like appropriate units. Readers can trace each route on uncluttered painted aerial or cutaway views that fill about two thirds of their spreads. These come with number/letter grids (in a lightweight typeface that makes it hard to distinguish a “1” from an “I”), compass roses, keys and large (superfluous) labels on major features—as well as various mermaids and monsters, plus tiny black cats or other not-exactly-concealed items to spot. Madrid’s digitally produced illustrations include full-page “close ups” that, for some reason, differ in detail from their corresponding iterations on the maps.
Not particularly challenging—nor, since the settings are conventional enough that even younger children will probably find them familiar, particularly scary either. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: June 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7636-4541-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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