Definitely a book aimed at high-energy boys.
Photorealistic, vibrantly colored, sometimes-disturbing images tell an amped-up story of sibling jealousy.
Like Max in Where the Wild Things Are, neglected big brother Oliver seeks revenge on his family through an imaginative encounter; he takes as his vehicle three animated fuzzy balls, quaintly named Basil, Cedric and Rasmus, he finds in a box in the attic. Each Tantrum, when thrown hard at his long-suffering mother, transforms itself into a truly scary monster and inflicts near-biblical punishments of flood, food and toys gone mad. Fortunately Mom is tough and can stand up to all this bad treatment. She confronts Oliver’s demons wearing various uniforms—hazmat suit, firefighting gear, full armor. Finally she lowers her sword, opens her visor and explains to him that she loves him and didn’t mean to ignore him. The hyperactive Oliver is somewhat mollified by this, and together, mother and child conquer the dreadful Tantrums by putting the now-harmless balls back in their box. In a hint of things to come, however, little sister Polly is seen discovering the Tantrums for herself. Illustrator Vladimir Todorov’s background in animated movies is clearly evident in the high quality of the airbrushed photographic artwork, which almost seems to pop off the pages. In one particularly memorable image, a monster made of spaghetti leers at Mom with olive eyes and a particularly nasty-looking pepperoni tongue.
Definitely a book aimed at high-energy boys. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: April 27, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-897476-67-3
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Simply Read Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2013
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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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