A wonderful choice for any youngster who’s ever known the love of a stuffed best friend (scary appliance notwithstanding).
Sometimes being a good friend means making scary choices.
Young Liam and his beloved teddy bear, Winston, love playing together. They take care of each other and lean on one other when times get tough. Their favorite activity is making mud pies, which naturally involves a robust helping of dirt and water. It’s all fun and games until Winston takes “a terrible tumble.” Flipping “toes over nose,” he lands with a tremendous FLOP in the middle of the mud. Winston is a mess, and a messy bear means a trip to the washing machine. Liam has feelings about this (he creates a drawing labeled “box + Winston + water = no way”) and attempts several creative evasion techniques, culminating in Liam taking a muddy spill of his own. After a satisfying bath, Liam realizes that Winston also needs to get clean. Liam takes a deep breath and promises Winston that he’ll stay close. Winston is finally cleaned, and the two are cozily reunited. Liam’s dad is patient and empathetic (if a little understandably annoyed with his shenanigans). Photos and drawings on the wall suggest that theirs is a single-parent household—a subtle and welcome reminder that there are many examples of loving families. Effervescent illustrations convey energy and emotion and have a palpably cuddly appeal. Liam and his father are brown-skinned.
A wonderful choice for any youngster who’s ever known the love of a stuffed best friend (scary appliance notwithstanding). (Picture book. 2-6)Pub Date: March 26, 2024
ISBN: 9781250883056
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2024
Safe to creep on by.
Carle’s famous caterpillar expresses its love.
In three sentences that stretch out over most of the book’s 32 pages, the (here, at least) not-so-ravenous larva first describes the object of its love, then describes how that loved one makes it feel before concluding, “That’s why… / I[heart]U.” There is little original in either visual or textual content, much of it mined from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. “You are… / …so sweet,” proclaims the caterpillar as it crawls through the hole it’s munched in a strawberry; “…the cherry on my cake,” it says as it perches on the familiar square of chocolate cake; “…the apple of my eye,” it announces as it emerges from an apple. Images familiar from other works join the smiling sun that shone down on the caterpillar as it delivers assurances that “you make… / …the sun shine brighter / …the stars sparkle,” and so on. The book is small, only 7 inches high and 5 ¾ inches across when closed—probably not coincidentally about the size of a greeting card. While generations of children have grown up with the ravenous caterpillar, this collection of Carle imagery and platitudinous sentiment has little of his classic’s charm. The melding of Carle’s caterpillar with Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE on the book’s cover, alas, draws further attention to its derivative nature.
Safe to creep on by. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-448-48932-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.
A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.
Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.
Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593702901
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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