Monster-truck fans won’t want to miss this Halloween showdown.
These monster trucks really are monsters, and their race is sure to get cheering children on the edges of their seats.
A spooky speedway surrounded by creepy trees and with gravestones in the center is the setting for this rhyming tale; mummies, ghosts, witches, and skeletons watch from the stands. Five monster trucks enter the race. “Frankentruck is first to arrive. / With a jump of his cables, he’s alive! He’s alive!” Werewolf Truck croons a tune and howls at the moon, Zombie Truck’s headlights glow green and he drips diesel, and Ghost Truck has a wonderfully curvy shape that tapers at the back and a grille shaped like an open, moaning mouth. The last monster truck is Vampire Truck, his purple spoiler shaped like a cape and fangs overhanging his grille. But those aren’t the only contestants: “out of the pit…with a PUTT and a TOOT / comes a Little Blue Bus, / looking perky…and cute.” It’s a VW bus (though her “nose” is an M in a circle rather than a VW). Unsurprisingly, it’s the latecomer who comes out ahead, though Vampire Truck is hot on her trail and ready to drink her fuel. Wragg’s acrylic-and-digital illustrations are sufficiently dark and creepy, filled with greens, purples, and yellows, and the anthropomorphized trucks truly suit their names.
Monster-truck fans won’t want to miss this Halloween showdown. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234522-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience.
The How to Catch A… crew try for Comet.
Having already failed to nab a Halloween witch, the Easter Bunny, a turkey, a leprechaun, the Tooth Fairy, and over a dozen other iconic trophies in previous episodes of this bestselling series, one would think the racially diverse gaggle of children in Elkerton’s moonlit, wintry scenes would be flagging…but no, here they lay out snares ranging from a loop of garland to an igloo baited with reindeer moss to an enticing candy cane maze, all in hopes of snagging one of Santa’s reindeer while he’s busy delivering presents. Infused with pop culture–based Christmas cheer (“Now I’ve already seen the shelf with the elf”), Comet prances past the traps until it’s time to gather up the kids, most of whom look terrified, for a group snapshot with the other reindeer and then climb back into harness: “This was a great stop but a few million to go / Christmas Eve must continue with style!” Though festive, the verse feels trite and unlikely to entice youngsters. A sprinkling of “True Facts About Reindeer” (“They live in the tundra, where they have friends like the arctic bunny”) wrap up this celebration of the predatory spirit. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 9781728276137
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2022
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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
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