Joins a growing selection for Dia storytimes.
The age-old lament takes on a different nuance as Catrina la catrina, a fashionista of the skeletal sort, desperately searches through her ancient trunk for an outfit befitting her station. Catrina tosses out pinching high heels, a sangria-stained disappointment, a moth-eaten creation, and even some blue high-water palazzos. Nothing is good enough to make her stand out at the Day of the Dead ball. Missing buttons, rumpled lace, what is she to do? Finally, the cranky catrina finds just the thing! So what if a few pearls have gone astray and the sequins blink dully—Catrina has never seen a dress so divine. De Alvarado’s tribute to José Guadalupe Posada’s iconic catrina successfully captures the dressing-for-a-party frenzy even as readers occasionally trip over uneven rhyme schemes and awkward meters, both in her original Spanish text and the uncredited English translation.“Tiene encajes torcidos y polvorientos, / enredados entre perlas finas, / lentejuelas descocidas y canutillo mullido.” Similarly, “Inside the chest, there’s still more to discover: / a nightmarish necklace and earrings so peculiar. / She puts them on, takes a look in the mirror / and exclaims, ‘Darn, I sure cut a fine figure.’ ” However, Navarro’s cocky catrina steals the show. With the perfect touch of the macabre, la divina Catrina expresses consternation and delight as her frantic search for the perfect outfit progresses.
Joins a growing selection for Dia storytimes. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 31, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-55885-910-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Piñata Books/Arte Público
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
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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Only for dedicated fans of the series.
When a kid gets the part of the ninja master in the school play, it finally seems to be the right time to tackle the closet monster.
“I spot my monster right away. / He’s practicing his ROAR. / He almost scares me half to death, / but I won’t be scared anymore!” The monster is a large, fluffy poison-green beast with blue hands and feet and face and a fluffy blue-and-green–striped tail. The kid employs a “bag of tricks” to try to catch the monster: in it are a giant wind-up shark, two cans of silly string, and an elaborate cage-and-robot trap. This last works, but with an unexpected result: the monster looks sad. Turns out he was only scaring the boy to wake him up so they could be friends. The monster greets the boy in the usual monster way: he “rips a massive FART!!” that smells like strawberries and lime, and then they go to the monster’s house to meet his parents and play. The final two spreads show the duo getting ready for bed, which is a rather anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a rambunctious tale. Elkerton’s bright illustrations have a TV-cartoon aesthetic, and his playful beast is never scary. The narrator is depicted with black eyes and hair and pale skin. Wallace’s limping verses are uninspired at best, and the scansion and meter are frequently off.
Only for dedicated fans of the series. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4894-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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