by David Quinn ; illustrated by Ashley Spires ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 24, 2018
Two messages come through loud and clear: caregivers’ love for their children and, in the words of the ghost parent: “I’ll...
A bedtime book for all the nocturnal ghouls, ghosts, and goblins.
Structured identically to the many twee books about bedtime for human children, this is designed to do the same job: get little ones to sleep. Just as human children want one more cuddle, snack, and book, so too do these monsters’ offspring. Godzilla’s diapered child wants to keep stomping block cities, and it’s a struggle to get the bigfoot child’s toes scrubbed, face brushed, and pajamas on. Then there are those pesky fears that parents need to banish (imagined terrors include a unicorn and a cute kitten). The beauty of Quinn’s text, though (the vampire dad’s request for one more bite and a couple of bobbled rhymes excepted), is that this will work on human children as well. Indeed, some of the typical twee has made it to these pages, demonstrating that monster caregivers are just as sentimental as human ones: “A little wonder, yes, that’s true. / A miracle, uniquely you.” Spires’ illustrations mix the tender with the slightly macabre (the zombie child’s stuffed animal is missing its lower half), and the palette is dark and subdued to match the time before the dawn.
Two messages come through loud and clear: caregivers’ love for their children and, in the words of the ghost parent: “I’ll always love you, to the grave. / But frankly, dear, it’s sleep I crave.” Truer words were never spoken. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: July 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-101-93944-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
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by Adam Wallace ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2017
This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers.
The bestselling series (How to Catch an Elf, 2016, etc.) about capturing mythical creatures continues with a story about various ways to catch the Easter Bunny as it makes its annual deliveries.
The bunny narrates its own story in rhyming text, beginning with an introduction at its office in a manufacturing facility that creates Easter eggs and candy. The rabbit then abruptly takes off on its delivery route with a tiny basket of eggs strapped to its back, immediately encountering a trap with carrots and a box propped up with a stick. The narrative focuses on how the Easter Bunny avoids increasingly complex traps set up to catch him with no explanation as to who has set the traps or why. These traps include an underground tunnel, a fluorescent dance floor with a hidden pit of carrots, a robot bunny, pirates on an island, and a cannon that shoots candy fish, as well as some sort of locked, hazardous site with radiation danger. Readers of previous books in the series will understand the premise, but others will be confused by the rabbit’s frenetic escapades. Cartoon-style illustrations have a 1960s vibe, with a slightly scary, bow-tied bunny with chartreuse eyes and a glowing palette of neon shades that shout for attention.
This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-3817-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
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by Alice Walstead ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton
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by Karma Wilson ; illustrated by Jane Chapman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 16, 2024
Cheery fun that will leave series fans “egg”-static.
In his latest outing, Bear and his pals go in search of eggs.
Bear “lumbers with his friends through the Strawberry Vale.” Raven finds a nest; climbing up, “The bear finds eggs!”: a refrain that appears throughout. Instead of eating the robin’s eggs, however, Bear leaves a gift of dried berries in the nest for the “soon-to-be-chicks.” Next, the friends find 10 mallard eggs (as bright blue as the robin’s), and Bear leaves sunflower seeds. Then the wail of Mama Meadowlark, whose bright yellow undercarriage strikes a warm golden note, leads them to promise to find her lost eggs. With his friends’ assistance, Bear finds one, and they decide to paint them “so they aren’t lost again.” Another is discovered, painted, and placed in Hare’s basket. After hours of persistent searching, Bear suddenly spots the remaining two eggs “in a small patch of clover.” Before they can return these eggs, the chicks hatch and rejoin their mother. Back at his lair, Bear, with his troupe, is visited by all 17 chicks and the robin, mallard, and meadowlark moms: “And the bear finds friends!” Though this sweet spring tale centers on finding and painting eggs, it makes no overt references to Easter. The soft green and blue acrylics, predictable rhymes, and rolling rhythm make this series installment another low-key natural read-aloud.
Cheery fun that will leave series fans “egg”-static. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781665936552
Page Count: 40
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
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