Spellbinding read-aloud gold.
Is it a unicorn or a horse in a hat? It’s up to readers to decide!
A matter-of-fact narrator presents all the reasons why a “horse in a hat” is really just that. It couldn’t possibly be a unicorn. Or could it? As the “horse” trots along, readers will notice other “horses” in the scenery, their heads—and, more importantly, what could possibly be their horns—obfuscated by some detail (a rock, a tree, etc.). Readers may side with the narrator, but soon, the visual evidence seems to contradict the verbal. Even the narrator waffles in their certainty. When a page turn reveals abandoned “horse” hats, the mystery is almost solved. Or is it? Though “horns” clearly crown the “horses’ ” heads in subsequent spreads, they could also be a part of the background (a spire, blades of grass, etc.). The final conclusion in the debate ultimately rests on the readers’ own deductive reasoning. As coy as Jon Klassen, Murguia is a master of subtlety. The interplay between narration and illustration proves the unreliability of the senses, sharing just enough to keep the magic (and doubt) alive. Murguia’s muted pen-and-ink–and-watercolor illustrations, presented almost entirely on double-page spreads, create a lush cartoon world. Careful readers might notice a final hint in the form of a lizard that just might be a dragon—a brilliant punctuation mark to this open-ended story.
Spellbinding read-aloud gold. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9468-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
Readers will delight in discovering the joyous time pumpkins have when it’s Halloween.
Magical moonbeams awaken a pumpkin patch to raucous Halloween-season revelry.
A moonbeam illuminates and energizes a smiley-faced pumpkin sitting alone on a stair; it promptly takes off to find a friend with whom to have a good time. An entire pumpkin patch, also sparked by the magical moon, instantly comes alive. And what merriment all the grinning gourds get up to! Their playful shenanigans include piling high on top of one another, bouncing on a trampoline, dancing, marching, and drumming, wearing costumes, and competing in games. They even engage in activities usually reserved for other holiday-themed icons—flying on brooms and making magic, for instance. As dawn approaches, the pumpkin leader escorts the cavalcade back home. At sunrise, each one takes up residence on a different house’s front porch and awaits that evening’s moonbeams to work their magic again. Liveliness and good cheer abound in this frisky rhyming tale in which the perennial holiday symbols naturally take center stage. Perky couplets that read and scan very well appear on most pages and are accompanied by energetic, expressive illustrations that highlight vivid oranges, yellows, blues, purples, and greens with touches of other bright shades.
Readers will delight in discovering the joyous time pumpkins have when it’s Halloween. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: July 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-338-56332-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This magical wisp of a story has an imaginative message for both planners and improvisers.
Julia decides to pack up and move her House for Lost Creatures, creating a host of problems with unexpected results.
Julia has taken in a cacophony of lost creatures: dwarves, trolls, and goblins, a singular rarity of a mermaid, and a patchwork cat, among others. But now, the house feels ready for a move. As the ghost starts to fade and the mermaid languishes, Julia puts her plan into action—packing books and stacking boxes. The move quickly turns into a series of catastrophes. Trying to retain the facade of control, Julia is dismayed to see her plans making things worse. Knowledge of the previous title, Julia’s House for Lost Creatures (2014), is a helpful introduction, as Hatke turns the solution of the first book into the problem for this one. With skillful pacing, the story has messages for both planners and creatives. The problems seem beyond resolution, keeping readers in gleeful suspended tension. While the first book introduced readers to the gnomish folletti, a hedgehoglike ghillie comes to a dramatic rescue here. There are two disparate messages in one story: Kindness will be returned, and it is OK to not have a plan. Connecting them together are lush illustrations that stretch the mind and add details to mythic beasts. Julia presents white. (This book was reviewed digitally with 8.5-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at 25% of actual size.)
This magical wisp of a story has an imaginative message for both planners and improvisers. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-19137-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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