ROSE AND THE WISH THING

Name: ROSE AND THE WISH THING
Author: Caroline Magerl
ISBN: 978-0-553-53617-1

by Caroline Magerl ; illustrated by Caroline Magerl ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 8, 2016

This quirky, sidelong look at a common childhood experience will be just the thing for readers and listeners who enjoy a...

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A lonely young girl makes a wish that eventually comes true in both magical and pragmatic ways.

Rose is a shaggy-haired, scratchily drawn preschool-sized white girl whose family has recently moved. Alone in her room she makes a wish, “but the wish thing did not come.” The facing page, however, shows an indeterminate furry creature with long ears and a sizable schnoz setting out in a rolling box. Rose’s family’s efforts to help her feel at home appear mostly in vignettes. Occasional double-page spreads track the progress of the cardboard box as it zooms over snowy mountains and sails through stormy seas. The two paths finally cross, and Rose takes her first, tentative steps toward settling in. Magerl’s succinct (and occasionally cryptic) text complements her pen-and-ink–and-watercolor illustrations. Together, words and pictures effectively evoke Rose’s lonely state and her family’s befuddlement and caring. The artwork, while decidedly original, brings to mind Ed Koren’s cartoons, with a touch of Edward Gorey’s charming grotesquerie. Odd animals and oddly lifelike dolls and stuffed toys add to the offbeat atmosphere.

This quirky, sidelong look at a common childhood experience will be just the thing for readers and listeners who enjoy a touch of whimsy and mystery (and who won’t mind not finding out what the wish thing actually is—or exactly what happens next). (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: March 8, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-553-53617-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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by Caroline Magerl ; illustrated by Caroline Magerl

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LOVE FROM THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR

by Eric Carle ; illustrated by Eric Carle ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 15, 2015

Safe to creep on by.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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by Eric Carle ; illustrated by Eric Carle

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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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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)