paper 0-7636-0452-6 This version of the teeny tiny classic is a teeny bit silly and a tiny bit scary. Robins’s illustrations have the loose, jittery lines of Sue Truesdell’s work, allowing him to draw creepy bats and graveyards with no fear of terrifying the preschool audience. When the teeny tiny woman sets off on her foray to the graveyard for a bone, she dons a polka dot hat and accessories that would make a clown proud. She plucks a bone from a grave, plunks it in her bag, and heads back home, where she stores it in her cupboard. When she’s about to go to sleep, a green-fingered monster shows up to retrieve what’s his. All readers see at first is a few hairy green digits wrapped around the door, and one glowing eye. The suspense builds as the ghoul demands “Give me back my bone!” and when the little woman finally yells “TAKE IT!” the illustration almost shouts, too, with a full-page view of her wide open mouth. Despite the tale’s familiarity, this version guarantees a spine-tingling jump. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-7636-0444-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1998
The action of this rhymed and humorous tale centers upon a mouse who "took a stroll/through the deep dark wood./A fox saw the mouse/and the mouse looked good." The mouse escapes being eaten by telling the fox that he is on his way to meet his friend the gruffalo (a monster of his imagination), whose favorite food is roasted fox. The fox beats a hasty retreat. Similar escapes are in store for an owl and a snake; both hightail it when they learn the particulars: tusks, claws, terrible jaws, eyes orange, tongue black, purple prickles on its back. When the gruffalo suddenly materializes out of the mouse's head and into the forest, the mouse has to think quick, declaring himself inedible as the "scariest creature in the deep dark wood," and inviting the gruffalo to follow him to witness the effect he has on the other creatures. When the gruffalo hears that the mouse's favorite food is gruffalo crumble, he runs away. It's a fairly innocuous tale, with twists that aren't sharp enough and treachery that has no punch. Scheffler's funny scenes prevent the suspense from culminating; all his creatures, predator and prey, are downright lovable. (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: June 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8037-2386-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1999
SEEN & HEARD
Through quick thinking and personal sacrifice, a wise old Japanese farmer saves the people of his village from a devastating tsunami in this simple yet striking story based on Lafcadio Hearn’s “A Living God.” Ojiisan lives in a cottage on a mountain overlooking the village and sea. One day, villagers gather to celebrate the rice harvest, but Ojiisan stays home thinking “something does not feel right.” When the earth quakes and the sea darkens and runs away from the land, Ojiisan realizes a tsunami approaches. Fearing the oblivious villagers will be swept away, Ojiisan torches his rice fields to attract attention, and they respond, barely escaping the monster wave. Rendered in gouache, pastel and collage, Young’s illustrations cleverly combine natural textures, bold colors and abstract shapes to convey compelling images of chaos and disaster as the rice fields burn and the wave rushes in. In one literally breathtaking double-page spread, an enormous wall of water engulfs the teeny seacoast village. A visually powerful and dramatic tribute to one man’s willingness to sacrifice everything for others. (Picture book. 3-5)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25006-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
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