A triumphant blend of humor and horror, perfect for teaching and scaring by turn.
Ingratitude breeds monstrous results in this entrancing cautionary tale, originally published in Sweden.
To say that there’s an imbalance of power in Fox and Mole’s friendship would be an understatement. Fox is responsible and generous, while Mole indiscriminately takes without regard. Even so, the two enjoy reading together each night. One day, Fox reads The Legend of the Scuffling Monster, about a raccoon who transforms into a horrifying creature. Soon after, Mole forgets Fox’s birthday, coming over instead to eat anything on hand. “Something thorny [finds] its way to Fox’s heart,” and when he undergoes a grotesque transformation of his own that evening, Mole finds himself on the receiving end of a famished, voracious companion. When Heikkilä warns at the start that “the middle of the story might be a bit spooky,” she isn’t kidding; her standout illustrations are as capable of eliciting terror as laughs. One minute Fox is amusingly staring into space as an oblivious Mole prattles on; the next, a silent, two-page spread depicts two haunted yellow eyes against a dark background. Like Ed Young’s Lon Po Po (1989), the tale is laced with hints of the monster in the shadows. Heikkilä infuses her compelling narrative with an important, though never heavy-handed, message about balance in relationships as she explores what happens when generous souls swallow down their irritations and resentment.
A triumphant blend of humor and horror, perfect for teaching and scaring by turn. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2025
ISBN: 9781782509530
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Floris
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
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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