Young or reluctant readers seeking something very brief and a bit dark might enjoy one enough to try a second.
“Graves” and her Nightmare Club have some stories to spook young readers.
Glen is a nasty young man. He has a high screechy voice, and he only opens his mouth for two reasons: to complain or to lie. One day Glen becomes lost during a class trip to the woods. He complains loudly, and a strange, tiny creature offers to help, but Glen rudely spurns assistance. The creature tells Glen to watch himself or it will turn him into something more useful. Glen ignores the warning, and his nasty behavior triggers a change. Worried, he dials back his nastiness. But when he thinks no one’s looking, he starts to kick a stray dog…and is never seen again. Published in the U.K. in 2011 and 2012, the Nightmare Club books are very short, highly illustrated tales ostensibly written by “Annie Graves,” a (fictional) 12-year-old who lives near Dublin. The actual author of each tale (in this case, Katherine Farmar) is acknowledged in the “Thank You” in the frontmatter of each volume. McElhinney’s black-and-white illustrations appear on every page. Publishing simultaneously are Help! My Brother’s a Zombie, Mirrored, Guinea Pig Killer and Frankenkids.
Young or reluctant readers seeking something very brief and a bit dark might enjoy one enough to try a second. (Horror. 7-10)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4677-4350-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Darby Creek
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
Similarly opulent renditions abound, but this is as good as any for parents wishing to introduce Frozen-mad children to the...
Between padded covers, a lightly compressed version of Andersen’s frosty classic is paired to lushly detailed illustrations enhanced by scattered flaps and movable bits.
Though she clears away much of the slushy sentiment as well as the angels, the prayers, the robber maiden’s knife and most of the talking flowers (and the Lapp woman), Woodward leaves all the major characters, plus the distinctive “girl sets out to rescue captive boy” plot, intact. Along with adding back a few angels at the beginning, Sumberac goes on to place marionettelike figures sporting oversized eyes and big, frizzy hair into settings that are positively encrusted with ice and snow crystals or with seasonal arrays of exactly rendered flora, fauna and fungi. The effect is not so much bland or cloying as theatrically sumptuous, and the illustrations are so thick with fine detail that the small die-cut flaps on occasional spreads are hard to spot even though they come with discreetly placed instructions to “lift.” More visible is the two-sided spinner and a pull tab that causes the “sprite’s” mirror to explode and on the next spread propels Kay and Gerda into view. The closing pop-up view of the two children kneeling over the “Eternity” sign in the Snow Queen’s icy hall is suitably dramatic (if on the flimsy side). The lengthy text demands either an independent reader or a very dedicated grown-up.
Similarly opulent renditions abound, but this is as good as any for parents wishing to introduce Frozen-mad children to the Disney movie’s original. (annotated list of characters) (Pop-up picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-78312-015-4
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Barron's
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Bland at first glance, appropriately eerie and disquieting on closer examination.
An accordion-folded edition of the classic cautionary story, with deceptively simple cut-out illustrations on card stock that can be viewed in color or, reversed, as silhouettes.
The text—strictly an afterthought, printed in tiny type and so ill-fitting that the final passages spill out onto the rear cover—is Margaret Hunt’s 19th-century translation with Little Red-Cap’s name altered despite the fact that a cap is what she’s wearing in the pictures. Children will know how the story goes anyway, and they will have no trouble following along as the doll-like, apple-cheeked child meets a properly frightening black wolf with bright red teeth and is later devoured along with her grandmother. Because the pages of die-cut art are dead black on one side and white with red and black highlights on the other, not only are several layers visible at once, but the overlaps create ominous shadows and depths behind the figures. Moreover, though Sourdais leaves out explicit views of the wolf being cut open and, later, flensed by the “huntsman,” she does add a provocative note to the climactic bedside scene by stripping Little Red to her red-and-black polka-dot underclothes.
Bland at first glance, appropriately eerie and disquieting on closer examination. (Novelty picture book/folk tale. 7-9)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-3-89955-723-7
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Little Gestalten
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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