Kleven (The Puddle Pail, 1997, etc.) offers up a kid’s-eye perspective on the amazing tumult created by a baby in the house. A young girl regales her new neighbor, who is wearing his favorite monster suit, with tales of the monster that resides in her home. Her stories of a food-guzzling, attention-demanding, mess-making creature liberate the boy’s imagination, reflected in the illustrations. Kleven adeptly magnifies the chaotic qualities of babies to a comical degree; as the true nature of the monster is revealed, as well as the girl’s affection for him, the boy’s imaginings of a formidable beast gradually evolve into the picture of small, smiling baby monster. Patches of text, appearing at angles and in different colors to represent the various speakers, successfully convey the rhythm of conversation. The scenes are busy and invite discovery: a monster mobile above the crib, the “Vitamin M monster milk, certified impure,” and the “Monster Muck Remover” for diaper changes. The vivid drawings are overlaid with a variety of collage materials, such as yarn hair for the monster’s body, bits of doilies for curtains, marbled paper for wood veneers. A wondrously silly tall tale with grandly domestic origins; expect laughter as readers grasp the truth of the monster’s identity. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-525-45973-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Menacing and most likely to appeal to established fans of its co-creators.
Existing artwork from an artistic giant inspires a fairy-tale reimagination by a master of the horror genre.
In King’s interpretation of a classic Brothers Grimm story, which accompanies set and costume designs that the late Sendak created for a 1997 production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera, siblings Hansel and Gretel survive abandonment in the woods and an evil witch’s plot to gobble them up before finding their “happily ever after” alongside their father. Prose with the reassuring cadence of an old-timey tale, paired with Sendak’s instantly recognizable artwork, will lull readers before capitalizing on these creators’ knack for injecting darkness into seemingly safe spaces. Gaping faces loom in crevices of rocks and trees, and a gloomy palette of muted greens and ocher amplify the story’s foreboding tone, while King never sugarcoats the peach-skinned children’s peril. Branches with “clutching fingers” hide “the awful enchanted house” of a “child-stealing witch,” all portrayed in an eclectic mix of spot and full-bleed images. Featuring insults that might strike some as harsh (“idiot,” “fool”), the lengthy, dense text may try young readers’ patience, and the often overwhelmingly ominous mood feels more pitched to adults—particularly those familiar with King and Sendak—but an introduction acknowledges grandparents as a likely audience, and nostalgia may prompt leniency over an occasional disconnect between words and art.
Menacing and most likely to appeal to established fans of its co-creators. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9780062644695
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: May 23, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-00361-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
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