by Elys Dolan ; illustrated by Elys Dolan ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 28, 2016
This is one haunted farm readers won’t want to skip.
Dolan takes her zany, anthropomorphic animals to new heights of silliness in this Halloween tale.
After a night of sleepwalking, Farmer Greg returns to find his farm now inhabited by beasts and ghouls. “Who you gonna call?” Ghost-Hunters, of course. The three pigs, in a remarkably familiar-looking vehicle, arrive in no time with their Phantom Finder 5000 to root out the paranormal. But they don’t find anything paranormal. Not at the pond, where zombie ducks wander with bloodshot eyes: “Quack! Brains!” Not in the farmhouse, where ghostly cows roam. And not in the barn, covered in green slime, where “He lives! Frankenhorse lives!” and the Mighty Donkula presides over the vampire bats, who “vant to suck your blood.” The vegetable patch similarly registers zero on the instruments. A visit to the chicken coop reveals both the diabolical plot and the reason behind it, and readers are sure to be taken by surprise—they won’t see this twist coming. While this is definitely a children’s book, Dolan adds some masterful one-liners for adult readers’ benefit that are sure to cause chuckles (one Ghost-Hunter says, “I ain’t afraid of no goat!”). Dolan’s mixed-media illustrations balance the creepy with the silly and are filled with hysterical details, visual puns, and speech bubbles, so readers are sure to find new things on repeat readings.
This is one haunted farm readers won’t want to skip. (Picture book. 5-10)Pub Date: June 28, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-8658-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
Share your opinion of this book
More by Elys Dolan
BOOK REVIEW
by Elys Dolan ; illustrated by Elys Dolan
BOOK REVIEW
by Elys Dolan
by Craig Smith ; illustrated by Katz Cowley ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2010
Hee haw.
Awards & Accolades
Likes
69
Our Verdict
GET IT
IndieBound Bestseller
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
Share your opinion of this book
More by Craig Smith
BOOK REVIEW
by Craig Smith ; illustrated by Katz Cowley
BOOK REVIEW
by Doug MacLeod ; illustrated by Craig Smith
BOOK REVIEW
by Adam Osterweil and illustrated by Craig Smith
by Claudia Mills ; illustrated by Rob Shepperson ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 14, 2016
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading.
When Franklin School principal Mr. Boone announces a pet-show fundraiser, white third-grader Cody—whose lack of skill and interest in academics is matched by keen enthusiasm for and knowledge of animals—discovers his time to shine.
As with other books in this series, the children and adults are believable and well-rounded. Even the dialogue is natural—no small feat for a text easily accessible to intermediate readers. Character growth occurs, organically and believably. Students occasionally, humorously, show annoyance with teachers: “He made mad squinty eyes at Mrs. Molina, which fortunately she didn’t see.” Readers will be kept entertained by Cody’s various problems and the eventual solutions. His problems include needing to raise $10 to enter one of his nine pets in the show (he really wants to enter all of them), his troublesome dog Angus—“a dog who ate homework—actually, who ate everything and then threw up afterward”—struggles with homework, and grappling with his best friend’s apparently uncaring behavior toward a squirrel. Serious values and issues are explored with a light touch. The cheery pencil illustrations show the school’s racially diverse population as well as the memorable image of Mr. Boone wearing an elephant costume. A minor oddity: why does a child so immersed in animal facts call his male chicken a rooster but his female chickens chickens?
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: June 14, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-374-30223-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
Share your opinion of this book
More by Claudia Mills
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
by Claudia Mills ; illustrated by Grace Zong
BOOK REVIEW
by Claudia Mills ; illustrated by Grace Zong
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.