A perfect storm of bad art, worse design and trite content.
The spooky mansion “looks deserted” (windows aglow with lights in the picture notwithstanding), but a skeleton greets “you” at the door. He leads “you” on a tour past a jar of brains, a vampire’s “long box” (?), a monster’s soup tureen and other hollow items. These are all actually pockets, identically shaped but pasted on in different orientations. Outside each is an invitation to “slide your hand in if you dare… / See what’s lurking but BEWARE!” Inside, readers feel pieces of slick plastic, fur or other textured material meant to suggest an eyeball, fangs, spider legs or other must-avoids. In just recognition that these tactile clues are too poorly chosen and shaped to be even superficially credible, the narrative provides specific prompts. “Be so kind and fish out a fresh eyeball for me,” the monster politely asks “you”; readers will feel just a raised plastic button (though if they peer inside, they will see a plastic toy eye. Moreover, the low-budget illustrations are meant to be atmospheric but are actually only murky, blurred jumbles of cobwebby, candlelit antique bric-a-brac—capped by a notably unstartling glob of card-stock ectoplasm popping up in low relief from the final spread. A lackadaisical effort to exploit a gimmick used—and probably used up—to (somewhat) better effect in Steve Cox’s Is That You, Wolf? (2012). (Novelty/picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7641-6641-9
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Barron's
Review Posted Online: Oct. 8, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2013
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience.
The How to Catch A… crew try for Comet.
Having already failed to nab a Halloween witch, the Easter Bunny, a turkey, a leprechaun, the Tooth Fairy, and over a dozen other iconic trophies in previous episodes of this bestselling series, one would think the racially diverse gaggle of children in Elkerton’s moonlit, wintry scenes would be flagging…but no, here they lay out snares ranging from a loop of garland to an igloo baited with reindeer moss to an enticing candy cane maze, all in hopes of snagging one of Santa’s reindeer while he’s busy delivering presents. Infused with pop culture–based Christmas cheer (“Now I’ve already seen the shelf with the elf”), Comet prances past the traps until it’s time to gather up the kids, most of whom look terrified, for a group snapshot with the other reindeer and then climb back into harness: “This was a great stop but a few million to go / Christmas Eve must continue with style!” Though festive, the verse feels trite and unlikely to entice youngsters. A sprinkling of “True Facts About Reindeer” (“They live in the tundra, where they have friends like the arctic bunny”) wrap up this celebration of the predatory spirit. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
These reindeer games are a bit tired but, given the series’ popularity, should have a large, ready-made audience. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 9781728276137
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A high-spirited night free of frights.
Actor Plaza and writer/producer Murphy join forces for another bewitching picture book.
Halloween is always a dismal time for Pheenie the witch, because her parties are such failures—until the day spunky young Luna Lopez, who yearns to be a helpful bruja like her grandma in Puerto Rico, appears on her porch. The two strike a bargain: Pheenie will instruct Luna in spellcasting in return for Luna’s help planning and organizing a properly spook-tacular event. Luna helps Pheenie clean up the house and encourages her to substitute tasty cider for wormy trick-or-treat apples and to put out kid-friendly snacks like candy corn and cookies in place of the witch’s typical candied spiders and baked troll fingers. The effervescent narrative is further stoked by several rhymed spells and suitably energetic illustrations. Peck sets the tale in a racially diverse urban neighborhood, and as the witching hour approaches (at around eight p.m., according to the clock on the mantel), in troops a group of eager-looking young partygoers in upscale costumes to play hide-and-seek with real ghosts and dance to a goblin band. It’s a Halloween hullaballoo! Elderly Pheenie is pale-skinned; Luna is tan-skinned.
A high-spirited night free of frights. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: July 29, 2025
ISBN: 9780593693018
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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